


Strangers, Rivals and all those other Things that come in between

by Sakurau121



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Alternate Universe - You've Got Mail Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 02:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5726746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakurau121/pseuds/Sakurau121
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reylo AU, Inspired by the film "You've Got Mail". Set in New York, Rey's a student who works part-time for a independent bookshop called Resistance. When Leia, the owner, reaches retirement and offers the bookshop to her, Rey is thrilled, but there's a rival store that threatens to put them out of business, headed by a faceless arch-rival she only knows is called "Kylo Ren." During all of this, a chance encounter with an obnoxious man changes everything and Rey's small world is turned upside down. Little does she know that the world is a lot smaller than she previously thought....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note: Hello all, I have noticed that there is a severe lack of Reylo AU stories, so I thought would add something since there’s little out there, although what is is very very good mind! (at least on fanfiction.net haha).  
> This is a fanfic so I’m afraid that I must confess that I have stolen a concept from the film “You’ve Got Mail” (a must-see classic film by Nora Ephron, perhaps THE Queen of Romance Comedy and witty writing, she was basically our modern Jane Austen). This story won’t be exactly the same as that film however in my head, that is how it looks, set in New York of course. You may recognise some phrases and concepts. Keep in mind, this is all very new and rough, so it’s not as fully fleshed out as I would normally like it! No appearance of Kylo Ren here, but rest assured, Ch 1 will be coming soon, I just want to get it right so I’m spending some more time on it! :-)  
> Ok, so I’m going to shut up now but finally I just want to say please rate, review and let me know what you think! In the mean time, happy reading! (Oh, and anyone else going to catch Adam Driver on SNL this weekend? I am! :D)

Prologue 

 

“Good morning Rey!” 

The voice cuts through her little bubble of inner reality, immediately snapping her back into reality. The real one, the actual one, the present reality, which was now forcing her to pull a wide smile and reply to the young man standing by the counter of the bookshop. He was presently smiling back at her brightly and trying to get her attention, perhaps kindly pulling her out of her daydreaming so that she could avoid embarrassment in realising that she was not exactly alone in the bookshop. This bookshop just happened to be where she worked. And the young man looking expectantly at her just happened to be her best friend and co-worker, Finn. 

“Good morning Finn,” stammered Rey, blinking rapidly as she closed the glass door behind her and slipped off her coat. “The wind is just crazy today, in fact everyone seems crazy today…How was the weekend?”

She smirked as Finn’s sunny expression immediately dropped to that of disappointment. It was her turn to catch him in a moment of pure surprise now. 

“I guess he said no?” implied Rey as she set her bag down on the counter. 

“Not exactly,” mumbled Finn, his eyes darting to and fro, staring at anywhere but Rey. “I missed an opportunity, that’s all…”

“You didn’t even ask him?” replied Rey slowly, leaning her head down, trying to get Finn to look at her. She tried to not sound condescending, but this had been going on for a while, round and round in circles and if something didn’t happen soon, Rey was going to lose it and intervene herself, even though she felt that really that wasn’t something she should do. 

Finn opened his mouth as if about to speak but at precisely the same moment the front door opened once more and their other co-worker walked in. His name was Poe Dameron, and Rey envied him for several reasons, one of which was that he was about to publish his first novel and would probably no longer be working at the bookshop. Secretly however, she had always envied him more for how he got his hair to look absolutely perfect every single day, no matter what the circumstances. Take today, for example. His hair was swept attractively to the left, but there was no hair treatment in sight so it looked completely natural. He was wearing his favourite leather jacket and looked like he had just come out of a photo shoot. Rey glanced outside. It was still windy as hell. She shook her head in disbelief. I give up, she thought. 

“Hello Rey, good weekend?” asked Poe as he closed the door, shutting out the sound of the howling wind outside.

“Not bad,” said Rey nebulously while giving Finn a knowing look before walking past the counter to turn on the rest of the lights.

“Uh huh,” said Poe, but he was eyeing her back with suspicion. “You know you always say that when something is going on….” 

“I have no idea what you mean,” said Rey, her back turned from her co-workers, while she busied herself with opening up a box that had just been sent in, full of newly published books. 

Finn looked between Poe and Rey with a confused expression on his face. “Something’s going on?”

Poe nodded in return, pulling a Robert de Niro face as he leaned across the counter. “Something is indeed going on my friend, only time will tell if we shall ever find out what that something is.”

Finn smiled nervously, before leaning down, pretending to get something from under the counter but Poe simply smiled to himself before turning around and raising his voice in a teasing manner once more. “Come on now Rey, what is this all about!” 

Rey sighed in annoyance before turning around to face her annoyingly perceptive friend. She couldn't hide anything from him, he was too good at reading people. She folded her arms before speaking through gritted teeth. 

“Something happened this morning on my way here, it was really confusing” she started, her voice low and full of anger, but seeing Poe raise his eyebrows, she changed her attitude. “But not really, because it was nothing! Really, really nothing, it was meaningless, silly, insignificant….”

Her light filled voice trailed off upon seeing that Poe was still staring at her, utterly unconvinced. 

“I’m just going to stand here until you tell me.”

She closed her eyes. Damn it. 

“Ok,” she groaned before approaching Poe and Finn and leaning against the counter. “So,” she whispered, “it was all good this morning, normal, nothing out of the ordinary and then suddenly…” 

And so she started to talk about that morning, and her encounter with the rudest and most peculiar man she had ever had the misfortune to meet. And take my word for it, she had had her fair share of those.


	2. Chapter 1 -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Thanks so much for all your support, please keep the comments and reviews coming! I’m wondering about the genre, and whether I should really say romance and drama or romance and comedy..I don’t know how much humour will be in this but it will have a lighter touch since it’s AU. I must warn you however that it won’t be a comedy necessarily so keep that in mind if that is the sort of thing you want… in the mean time, please keep reviewing, happy reading everyone!

Author's note: Thanks so much for all your support, please keep the comments and reviews coming! I'm wondering about the genre, and whether I should really say romance and drama or romance and comedy..I don't know how much humour will be in this but it will have a lighter touch since it's AU. I must warn you however that it won't be a comedy necessarily so keep that in mind if that is the sort of thing you want… in the mean time, please keep reviewing, happy reading everyone!

Chapter 1

Kylo Ren groaned out loud as he approached the building which was soon to become another First Order branch bookstore. His boss would prefer the word superstore, but personally to him that didn't sound very…. well intelligent. How he was going to explain away the massive stain on his shirt was beyond him, but he knew that Hux would be mercilessly sneering and teasing about it all morning, labelling him "unprofessional" or some such other nonsense. None of this would have happened if not for that stupid girl….

Kylo felt a strange sense of falsity tinged in his thoughts as he stared at the construction site… No, she wasn't stupid, although if he'd already been in a bad mood he might've dismissed her as such. Still, she had been annoying and their second encounter had left them both embarrassed, although she might not have realised it. He was left deal with her friend, to whom he had mockingly advised that her friend ought to learn more about manners and the art of apology. Not that he had ever apologised for anything…. That didn't matter though, the point was that she clearly hadn't.

She really was a strange sort of person. When she had looked up at him after their little incident, she looked at him as if he were mad or something. Well, he was used to people looking at him with anger, sadness and contempt, but she looked…. disappointed. It was something he hadn't come across in a long time and it made him feel guilty. He hadn't felt like that in a very long time. It wasn't an emotion he really liked to feel, especially not like this. She was a nobody, a stranger, which made the powerful effect of their brief encounter all the more strange, infuriating and yet intriguing. She had been different, he could feel it.

Kylo scoffed to himself before opening the entrance door. Why was he so restless? He mentally attempted to shrug off the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked inside. It was still quite early so many people had yet to arrive, but it gave him a moment to take a closer look at the still under construction building. He knew that when it was finished, it would be a success and nothing would stop it from doing it's purpose. It was truly going to be a well-oiled machine….

"Good morning Ren," came Hux's shrilly voice from two floors up.

Kylo sighed silently to himself, careful not to show any distress to his co-worker. He didn't even bother to answer Hux as he turned towards the stairs and walked up to the second floor, his footsteps echoing lonesomely off the glass steps. Huh stood at the top by the stairs, staring down at him, his nose looking even more pointier than usual.

"What on earth is that stain on your shirt?" he sneered, just as Kylo expected.

"None of your business," said Kylo contemptuously, sending Hux a glare and hoping he would shut up. Most people would, but sometimes Hux needed more persuading.

"I see," replied Hux, but Kylo could tell by the tone of his voice that he was not satisfied with answer he was given. Kylo ignored this and walked towards the windows over looking the street in front. The building stood on a corner, but was by far the biggest of it's size on the street.

"Snoke has told me that you have done some digging to find out what competition is out there," said Kylo, his back turned to Hux.

"Yes," said Hux, his tone that of surprise, no doubt because he didn't think Snoke would have already told Kylo such information already. Kylo smirked towards the window silently, unseen by Hux. "Most are insignificant, however there is one small independent store called "Resistance" close by that could be seen as competition."

As Hux glanced up at his co-worker, he noticed that he seemed to have visibly stiffened.

"Of course," he heard Kylo Ren whisper, but still not turning around. "I forgot we were around that place, no wonder I was so restless coming here. It wasn't the girl…"

Usually at this point Hux would sneer and make Ben explain what he was mumbling about, but somehow this time he decided not to, and instead took a step back. There had been something in his voice that was different this time, something dangerous and strangely vulnerable. It made Hux suddenly very uncomfortable, as if he had heard something that he shouldn't have.

That same morning, but at an earlier time

"Shit!" whispered Rey under her breath as she exited the subway, pulling her shoulder bag closer to herself as she started to run down along the wet pavement, the busy street full of people on their way to work. She was supposed to have met Kat five minutes ago at the coffeehouse and given her her spare keys. Once again her friend had somehow lost her keys the night before and, after leaving her date's flat in the wee hours of the morning, was in need of spare keys to get inside her own flat and grab her much needed computer for her presentation at university this morning. As Rey pushed past someone to run past, she groaned due to sudden dizziness. It didn't really help that Rey herself had been out partying with her friend and ended up coming home alone with a hangover.

"It serves you right Kat," muttered Rey as she turned a corner. "You're always dragging me to some god forsaken party, and leaving me on my own while running off with some gu-"

As she turned at the corner of the street onto what she presumed would be a much less busy road, she found that, instead of empty air, she was faced with what felt like a stone wall. Due to the speed at which she had been running, she found no time to stop or slow down. After impact with what felt like, literally, a black wall, she found herself falling backwards, landing on the floor with a hard thud. Ok, so the floor felt harder slightly harder, but only just.

It took a few moments for her to register what had happened but as her eyes came into focus once more, she looked up to see what exactly it was that she had collided into. As she did this, her eyes visibly widened. Perhaps a better word would be whom.

The man she had ungraciously slammed into was staring down at his shirt with what she could only describe as absolute revulsion and disgust. He had been holding a coffee cup which was now unceremoniously rolling on the floor, and as a result of her slamming into him, gained a very large coffee stain on his front, which was now clearly visible. She had rarely seen such an extreme expression on a person's face, and she immediately felt small and intimidated. This guy was ridiculously tall, and from down on the pavement he looked even more so. He clearly wasn't the average worker that you saw every day; his dark coat and other attire looked very expensive and he had the aura of a wall street stock broker, but not in a good way. This was all making Rey feel increasingly worse. She wasn't going to be able to get away with this simply by smiling and apologising. Nevertheless, she had to try.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as she got to her feet and approached the man, who in turn finally looked up from his ruined shirt. Now Rey could see him more clearly, she noticed that he was everything she had feared that he would be. With a long snobbish nose, two almost black discerning eyes, a shrewd mouth, and a pale, almost bloodless face, Rey knew that this man was clearly what was written on the tin. He was the type who wouldn't let it go and felt himself to be above her in all respects. The only real surprise was that he looked a bit young for the work clothes and attitude he was adopting but she suspected that he got away with it due to his height. And by having rich parents probably, she added cynically to herself. He couldn't be more than ten years older than her but he seemed…. immature, for his age anyway.

The man gave no answer and merely stared at her with blank, almost emotionless eyes, contrasting starkly with his mouth, which was currently twisted into an ugly sneer. It was as if he was waiting for her to say more, as if her words didn't warrant any sort of reply.

"I'm terribly sorry," she started again, keeping her voice more level and less squeaky, "I wasn't looking at all-"

"Clearly," responded the man finally, his voice so bitter that Rey felt it seep painfully into her ears.

"I'm sorry sir," she started again, but she couldn't help impatience and annoyance seep into her voice, "it's really early and all I can say is I wasn't looking-"

"What are you going to do about this?" spoke the man, his voice seeping with anger despite his eyes still holding that blank expression, as if half dead. Creepy, thought Rey.

"I don't understand-" she started feebly, but again he interrupted.

"Are you as stupid as you are blind?" he spat, coming up so close to her so that she had to take a step back. This man was absolutely fuming, and while up until now she had been to be frank, a little scared, the petty comment suddenly fuelled something else in her.

"There is no need for such insults," she spoke, in a slow and rather low voice, much more controlled than his. Surprised nevertheless by this sudden change within her, Rey looked up, not necessarily controlling the expression on her face. As she did, she noticed herself staring at this man not with anger or hurt but with… with…. disappointment? Why?

He too, for a moment, looking surprised, and his anger seemed to cloud over with confusion.

Frowning at herself, she decided to look down again and try and speak her way out of the terrible situation she had unfortunately found herself in. She needed get out of this now and get to Kat.

"I apologise again for causing you to spill coffee-"

"You don't need to repeat yourself," came the man's voice again, but this time he sounded different. He sounded weirdly small, distant. There was no hint of bitterness in his voice.

When she looked up, he was standing several paces away, still looking down at her but warily. Like he was suddenly scared. His eyes were wide, and didn't look very discerning. In fact, she noticed now that they were in fact brown, and not that dark actually at all.

Inadvertently she took a step forward, and reached her hand out, afraid that she had caused this man to feel hurt perhaps due to her blunt tone of voice, even though quite frankly she was feeling rather unsympathetic towards him, despite his coffee stained shirt, which was still there, glaringly obvious.

"I didn't mean to-" she started, making her voice kinder, but she stopped mid sentence.

As if revolted by her, the man she saw a mere moment ago returned and he suddenly looked at her scathingly, as if she was the reason for all the wrongs in the world and took two wide steps towards her, which left her craning her neck up and his down. It was only for a second, but she could see that his eyes were darting across her face almost manically, as if searching for something, although what that something was was completely beyond her. His eyes soon returned to hers however.

"You should learn to watch where you're going, you stupid girl," he spoke coldly after a moment of silence before striding past her and out of site.

Rey didn't dare look behind her as she began to walk. What was all that about?! Her heart was thumping against her chest, and she wasn't entirely sure why. Well, no, she knew why. She knew that she was incredibly lucky to have gotten out relatively unscathed. What was perhaps more perplexing was why. Clearly he had been ready to ask for money, sue her, or god knows what else, but then that moment and suddenly…..

They hadn't spoken many words, but somehow it was as if another conversation had been happening at the same time…

Rey shook her head, bringing herself out of the daze. She needed to focus. Already she could see the coffeehouse, but gasping she reached down to look at her watch and saw that she was now twenty minutes late. She had been walking in a daze for at least five minutes, all because of some snobby idiot who couldn't accept an apology….

When she finally opened the door to the coffeehouse, she was greeted by the warm heat and smell of delicious coffee. She immediately spotted her friend, who was queuing at the back of the line, inevitably in order to order something. Rey sprang towards her and hugged her from behind, which made Kat squeal in surprise, attracting the attention of other customers, but only for a moment.

"Rey!" exclaimed Kat, turning around rapidly and hugging her friend. "I was waiting for so long but you weren't coming so I was going to order another coffee but, oh, I am so glad you are here!"

The two friends parted and moved up the line.

"When's your presentation?" asked Rey as she opened her rucksack to pull out Kat's keys.

"Oh, not for another hour, I'll be fine, class is only five minutes away," said Kat nonchalantly, waving her hand. "I thought you might have a hangover or something so I thought I'd set the time earlier in case you were late, which you were."

She spoke all of this rather teasingly.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I did have a hangover, until something happened that really woke me up and snapped me out of it," muttered Rey darkly as they moved further up the queue.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't that be a good thing?" asked Kat quizzically as Rey passed her her spare keys.

"Yes, but not when it's because some asshole couldn't accept an apology and felt like he had the authority to degrade you."

"What?" exclaimed Kat, looking at her friend worriedly as they approached the counter and ordered their drinks.

"Well," sighed Rey as they finished ordering, "I accidentally ran into him and made him spill his coffee down his shirt, stop laughing." Rey could see that her friend was already in pieces and sniggering.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," came Kat's muffled voice from beneath her hands. "So what happened?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure why but at one point he looked upset, then angry, and then finally he insulted me and stalked off, it was just the most awful thing," moaned Rey. "I just don't understand why the buffoon couldn't accept an apology and move on!"

When she turned to look at her friend, she saw that Kat was smiling.

"What did he look like?" asked Kat nonchalantly as she winked at the cashier while receiving her latte.

"Who cares what he looked like?" replied Rey incredulously as she, too, got her latte. "He was such a creep! Really, really tall with black eyes, a snobbish nose, completely immature-"

Rey stopped mid sentence as she noticed that Kat, despite having turned around, was still standing still, staring at something behind Rey. She wore a very odd expression.

"What's wrong with you Kat?" she asked, frowning.

"Rey," spoke Kat, her voice small.

Rey suddenly felt like she wanted the earth to swallow her up. She froze before wincing and turning around, knowing that she was going to face the man she knew had been standing there throughout their whole conversation.

There, indeed, standing behind them, was the man with the still visible coffee stained shirt. He had, inevitably, listened to every word she had said because he was staring down at her with such intensity that she had to instantly look away. She could feel that her cheeks were hot and her heart was thumping violently in her chest.

"I, I, uh," stammered Rey, feeling her palms starting to sweat.

She knew that there was only one viable escape route and she didn't need to think twice about it.

She ran the hell out of the coffee house and didn't stop until she arrived at work, which was many blocks away.

Later, after having finished telling her co-workers at the bookstore about what had happened that morning, she received a text from Kat.

'Hey, you owe me one, although since I owe you for the keys that sort of makes us even. I had to deal with your emo stalker who wouldn't stop staring at you. Anyway, he's a fine piece of work, at least he's a stranger so you won't ever have to see him again, although I must admit, despite the vile personality, his hair was pretty amazing.'

Rey shook her head and rolled her eyes as she read Kat's message just as the front door bell rang and the first customer of the day came in.

Yes, she thought with relief as she smiled at the customer, I won't see that asshole ever again.

There was, however consciously, a very small part of her that feared that she might.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Sorry for such a late post guys! Everyone enjoy SNL? Happy reading! oh and don’t forget to review as well, this is pretty short, but the next chapter will be more juicy :P

Chapter 2

As the employees of Resistance stood outside the towering monster of a construction site soon to be known as First Order Books, they let out a mixture of sighs and groans of pain. All, except one. Rey stood resolute, her arms folded with a determined look on her face.

“Quel nightmare,” said Finn in a slow and yet terrified voice, staring up at the building site as if it was about to swallow him whole. 

“It’s got nothing to do with us,” said Rey dismissively, “it’s overstocked, they don’t have any service, we do!” 

“But they do discounts,” mumbled Poe nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets, but he too, on this rare occasion, looked worried. 

“Rey,” spoke Leia nebulously, standing at the very left, “are you free for lunch?” 

Rey looked down towards Leia, who surprisingly didn’t look worried nor scared. Rather, she looked upset. 

………………. 

 

Leia Organa, the elderly woman whom Rey had been staring at, was the proud owner of Resistance books, a bookshop that had been passed down to her by her late mother. She first came across Rey when she was at the supermarket. Then, Rey had been working there and Leia witnessed that she was in the process of getting told off by her manager because she had dropped a bottle of wine. The hideous man had been shouting at her so ferociously for such a long period of time that Leia had finally had enough and taken her to one side, offering her a job at her bookstore. That had been two years ago. Now, Rey was manager, but she was soon to become something else…

“So, really, it’s a good development,” said Rey before taking a bite from her sandwich. 

“I suppose you need to be optimistic. I’m glad that you are, the others aren’t so much. They’re probably all worried about losing their jobs,” replied Leia, her lunch untouched, staring out the window blankly. She seemed like she was somewhere far away, which was strange because she was always the one on point and seemingly having it all together.

“Um, Ms Organa, are you ok?” asked Rey tentatively. 

For a moment, Leia frowned before blinking and looking back at Rey, a lost look on her face. 

“Oh,” she whispered before looking down at her sandwich and then back up again at Rey. “I’m sorry darling, I was somewhere else. You’ll have to forgive me, I’ve had quite a morning.”

“Has this possibly got something to do with the construction of First Order books?” asked Rey carefully, as Leia started to eat. 

“Um,” mumbled Leia as she froze with her sandwich halfway in her mouth. “Maybe.” 

Rey frowned and stared at Leia. Ok, now she was really confused. Her boss was somebody who was rarely ambiguous. 

“Ok,” sighed Leia, putting her sandwich down. “Yes, it does have to do with it, and actually a lot more than you think. Rey, the truth is I’m retiring soon, and I am thinking, well, I was hoping that you would take over the bookstore, that is if it’s still here by the time that you do. Now, given the circumstances, I’m not sure if-“

“You’re giving me the bookstore?!” burst out Rey in a loud voice, causing the people in the cafe to stop what they were doing and turn in silence to stare at her. However, this is New York, so they only looked at her for about five seconds. 

“I was hoping, yes,” replied Leia, and for the first time that day she gave Rey a genuine smile. “Which is why I am so glad that you are so enthusiastic about the store and optimistic about it’s chances of staying in business. We need someone like that during hard times. I know also that you have talked about taking over before. As manager, that’s hardly surprising, but I know that I wouldn’t wish to pass it on to anyone but you.” 

Leia’s voice was sober, but she was still smiling at Rey. 

For some strange reason, Rey felt like she should stay silent. Although she was very happy and excited, at this particular moment, she felt that Leia probably needed more of a mature, focused and reliable adult than a noisy, squealing adolescent. Plus, it seemed like that there was more that she wanted to say.

“And,” started Leia again, this time sounding a little reluctant. “that leads to the next thing. There’s something you should know….” 

She sounded reluctant, and strangely nervous, looking at Rey with what she could only describe as guilt. 

“I need to ask you a favour, you, of course, can turn it down if you wish, but you should know.. I have a son and he….” 

Her voice fizzled out as if she was going to continue but suddenly changed her mind. Rey had never heard about a son before, but then again, she knew very few things about Leia. She was a close friend, but she rarely talked about her past, apart from her career life.

“You have a son?” asked Rey, surprised. 

“Yes, I do, but we’ve been quite distant for.. well, a while. Actually, a long time. I haven’t spoken to him properly since he left for university.”

“I’m so sorry,” replied Rey softly. She had often wished she had had a mother like Leia Organa, someone warm, loyal and strong. Somehow she found it hard to believe that Leia was the cause for her son deserting her. 

Leia smiled sadly in response before continuing. 

“Well, that was a long time ago, and I haven’t spoken to him in so long that I think I might've forgotten how to. Which is why I need to ask you a favour… I know this is a strange request but, would you, I mean, could you possibly write an email to him, as me?” 

“What,” stammered Rey. She couldn’t help it, she hadn’t expected that at all. 

“I can’t trust myself to write to him… It doesn’t need to be very long or say anything in particular, just that I miss him and am thinking of him. You don’t need to suggest a meeting, he just needs to know that I’m thinking of him and still love him. I can understand completely if you don’t-“ 

“No,” said Rey bluntly, staring down at her drink, her eyes sober and slightly dark. “I’ll do it. I understand, you obviously love your son very much and he needs to know that. It’s important that he should remember. I never had any real parents so… If you do have family, you have to appreciate them… Do you have an email address?” 

“Yes,” replied Leia, her eyes staring at Rey thoughtfully. “But I hardly use it, as you know. At the bookstore I rely on you to use the business email and communicate with the publishing companies, I’m more of a landline phone sort of person. All that gmail and apple business goes straight over my head!”

They both laughed in response, and the atmosphere immediately felt a little lighter. 

“I really appreciate it Rey,” said Leia quietly, taking Rey’s hand in hers. “I really do. Having someone like you at the store has really helped me over the past two years. You practically run the place now, you deserve it, you really do.” 

Rey couldn’t help happy with Leia’s hand around hers. Something at the back of her mind however, made her feel like she was taking somebody else’s place, and in her happiness she felt tinges of sadness and guilt seep in and darken her thoughts.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: A huge thank you to everyone’s messages, keep it coming, you guys keep me writing! Ah and just a small warning. As with “You’ve Got Mail”, this is fiction. So, you know, kids be safe when talking to strangers on the internet. Even if it is a Star Wars character.

Chapter 3

As Rey sat in front of the computer in the manager’s office, she started to chew the inside of her cheek. After closing the store for the day Leia had talked to her about what she hoped Rey could write in the email to her son. She’d explained that she would leave Rey to write the email alone as she didn’t want to put any pressure on her and also, because she, herself, was feeling rather nervous about the whole ordeal and seeing the email would only make her worry more. 

Which was how Rey found herself sitting in her chair in the manager’s office after hours, with only one lone desk lamp on with the rest of the shop shrouded in darkness. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek out of anxiety and, perhaps, because she still had no idea what to say. Or, rather, how to sound like Leia. 

So far she had written, ‘Dear Ben’. She assumed that his name was Ben Organa, but since it was supposed to be Leia writing, she decided to lose the surname. Leia never mentioned his father to Rey, and Leia had no ring on her finger, so she assumed that she had no husband. 

‘This is your mother writing. I don’t know if you can read this or even use this email anymore, but I thought I would try and reach you. I know that we haven’t talked to each other in a while, but I hope that we can more often in the future.’

Rey sighed before taking a sip of coffee from her mug which had ‘Resistance Books’ printed on it. One of the various problems she was currently coming up against was the fact that she had no idea what caused the rift between Leia and her son. It didn’t seem like something Leia wanted to talk about so Rey hadn’t really asked. Another glaring problem was the fact that Rey knew next to nothing about her son. 

“It’s just one letter, one message,” she muttered to herself. 

But still. It was a bit of a problem. Plus, she couldn’t help but feel curious. Who was this guy? Why had she never seen him before? Why was Leia so scared, or rather, afraid? Leia was never afraid, and that’s what worried Rey. Something pretty bad must have happened. 

“Enough, this isn’t about you,” mumbled Rey before returning her thoughts back to the email. 

‘I miss you, and I just want you to know that I am thinking of you. I want you to know that I have, do, and always will love you. I hope you are well, and I hope to hear from you soon. All my love, Your Mother.’ 

Rey leaned back into her chair and stretched her arms before yawning. She glanced up at the clock. 10.30 pm. Ugh. She had to get home. She took one last look at her ridiculous email before hitting send to benorgana@mac.com. Little did she know the consequences of her words and what chain of events it would spark. 

………………………

She sat for a moment, staring blankly at the screen and the inbox sign on the right hand side. Clearly Leia never used her account; apart from spam emails there was nothing, no contacts, no nothing. Ben Organa….. 

Rey staring out of the window nonchalantly. It was drizzly outside and she noticed a mother walking past with a buggy, which had it’s little plastic shield up, keeping the rain away from the child sitting inside. A man walked behind, the father probably. 

Leia did actually tell her a little bit about her son at lunchtime. She was adamant about the fact that she was the one who drove her son away. According to her he was an intelligent, bright sort of person, although he was a bit quiet compared to the other children at school. He didn’t have many friends, but what he lacked there, he made up for in his grades. 

“He was always seeking approval though,” Rey remembered Leia saying. Her smile disappeared when she said these words. “I’m convinced now that I was the reason he lacked confidence.”

Still, Rey had little information on what he was really like… She still refused to believe Leia was the cause, clearly something else had happened. Suddenly, the inbox made a noise. 

Rey looked up at the computer screen in surprise; she was just about to get up and put on her jacket to go home.

What?

Written the screen was the number one next to the inbox. Reply: to Leia Organa. From: Ben Organa. 

WHAT?!

Without thinking, Rey clicked on the email, hardly believing her eyes. Who responds that quickly to an email?!

 

‘Who are you?’ 

 

No ‘dear mother’, no ‘hello’, nothing. Just one sentence. 

Rey scoffed as she stared at the sentence incredulously. This person was coming off as very rude and- Hang on. 

Rey lifted her left hand to her mouth. He knew. Somehow, and don’t ask how, he knew that she wasn’t his mother. Rey had completely screwed up. 

What was she going to say to Leia? What if she lost the bookstore on account of this email? Had Leia been testing her? Testing her for what? Rey shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for speculation. She had to deal with things, one thing at a time. She had to respond to this now. Should she lie? 

Rey slumped into chair. No, it was too late for that now. Obviously she had said something wrong, something Leia would never say. But she hadn’t really written anything irregular… 

Reply: 

Hmm… Rey bit her bottom lip. Guess she just had to do it. 

‘I’m sorry-‘ Rey started to write but then she paused. What did she have to feel sorry for? This was about Leia and her son. She was just the messenger after all. At the same time though, Rey didn’t feel particularly comfortable giving her name, her identity to a person she didn’t really know. What if Leia got the address wrong? Yes, maybe this was the wrong Ben Organa… 

“Don’t be silly Rey,” she muttered to herself before placing her hands on the keyboard again. Of course Leia didn’t get the address wrong, how many people have such an odd surname like Organa? Not many, said a blunt, sarcastic voice in her head. 

‘Dear Ben Organa’, wrote Rey, deleting the ‘sorry’ bit, ‘As you have guessed, I am not your mother. I am one of her acquaintances. She wishes to be in contact with you which is why I wrote to you.’ 

So far so good, apart from one glaring problem. Rey could already visualise his response. ‘Why did you pretend to be her?’ 

Rey sighed before putting her head in her hands. She had no choice but to be honest. Leia was going to be so disappointed but she had no choice now. 

‘She asked me to write a message for her because she feels very anxious and, I personally think, worried about what sort of response you would give, if any at all. What I wrote in the previous email is what she dictated to me to include in her email to you. I hope that you do not take offence to any of this and understand that she only means well.’ 

Rey didn’t write her name at the end, and again, sent the email before she had any time to overthink it. She could have gone home then, but something made her stop. She was sure he would reply immediately. Surprisingly, he was not as prompt as before, but after five minutes, a reply finally came. Rey felt her heart racing as she clicked the reply email. It read as follows. 

‘Dear… who ever you are, 

Thank you for your explanation. Clearly this isn’t your fault and you were merely doing what you were told to do. Nevertheless, I was surprised to see the email coming from my mother’s address; she does not write emails to anyone, which was why I was a little suspicious. Also, you wrote things that Leia Organa simply wouldn’t write. I do not know who you are, but I am guessing that you are either one of my mother’s friends or an employee at her business, Resistance Books. I can completely understand why you would not want to reveal your identity to me, so I will not force you to do so. 

Best regards, 

Ben Organa’ 

Rey stared at the screen. She read the message again. And again. And again. 

For the second time that night, she was dumbfounded. He didn’t mention anything about getting in contact with his mother, almost as if he was avoiding the subject. Nor did he seem particularly angry at her either though. It was almost like he had read her thoughts. He was clearly Leia’s son, because he knew about Resistance Books, so it was the right person. He didn’t force her to reveal her identity like he did the first time. He was surprisingly eloquent, something which drastically contrasted with his first reply. It was like two completely different people. And yet…. Rey sighed. She couldn’t help but wonder what she had written that Leia simply wouldn't have. 

Rey stared down at the keyboard. She should ask him whether he wants to talk to his mother. She should. And yet… 

She began to type, despite herself. 

‘Dear Ben Organa, 

Thank you for your reply and for understanding why I do not wish to give you my name. I hope that you do not take offence, it’s just that I do not really know you, although you sound like a nice enough person. I do not mean to pry, but what exactly did I write that made you suspicious that I wasn’t who I said I was? Also, I must ask, do you have any wish to contact your mother?  
Best regards… ’ 

Shouldn’t she at least give him her first name? Just a first name? Maybe a different name. 

Erm… 

‘Bookshop Girl’ 

Rey bite her lip as she sat anxiously for a reply. She glanced at the clock on the wall and proceeded to gasp. Oh god, it was already half eleven. 

The reply came even quicker than the last. 

 

‘Dear Bookshop Girl, 

Judging by your name, I’m guessing that you work at Resistance Books. As to the question concerning my mother, I currently would prefer not to speak with her. It’s very complicated but our relationship has strained so far that I believe it is beyond repair. And if I were to hear from her, I would have preferred that she at least write to me herself. But I appreciate your efforts, please do not think that you are at fault. If you are worried about what to tell my mother, please just tell her that you received no reply. That way you won’t get in trouble. As to your other question… 

My mother never finished her letters with ‘All My Love’. Even at the end of birthday cards. She was always annoyingly formal, and only signed with her name. And when you wrote ‘talked to each other in a while’ that sounded quite off, because I haven’t spoken to my mother in over fourteen years. I hope that answers your question. Also, it’s pretty late, and since this is my mother’s account you are writing from, does that mean that are you still at work?

Best regards, 

Ben’ 

Rey once again stared at the email. Fourteen years? 

Again, Rey could not help replying. He sounded… softer than before? It was getting weird how he was reading her mind, despite her not mentioning anything about being worried about what to say to Leia. Why was he so concerned about her anyway? It sounded oddly casual, but then she did sort of break the ice when she asked about Leia… He sounded… nice. Rey felt herself blush. She couldn’t help it. She ought to reply… 

Once again she placed her hands on the keyboard. 

‘Dear Ben,’ 

Rey blushed once more. What? she told herself, as if nothing was wrong with not writing ‘Ben Organa’. He signed his name off in the last one with only his first name. Why couldn’t she do the same? 

‘I am still at work. I should go home soon! Thank you very much for all your answers. You didn’t need to answer my questions as they were quite personal ones and you had every right not to reply, but nevertheless, I am grateful that you did. It’s a shame what happened between you and your mother… I never knew my parents, so I’ve always felt a little envious which is why I agreed to this. I cannot do anymore, and really, it’s not to do with me but between you and your mother. You’re right by the way. I do work at Resistance Books. If you ever have some free time, please pop by! Of course, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to. Anyway, it was nice talking to you. I hope we can talk again soon. 

Best regards and goodnight, 

Bookshop Girl’ 

As Rey once again pushed send, she sat back in her chair. It was now past midnight. She would need to take a cab home, oh no, so expensive… Better safe than sorry though. 

As for Ben… Well, he sounded pretty nice, and… attentive. 

Rey scoffed to herself before standing up and putting her jacket on. He was just being polite! 

 

I hope we can talk again soon….. Rey left out a cry of anguish as she remembered what she wrote at the end of the email. Twisting her hair in her hands, Rey stared back at the computer screen in regret. Why had she written that?! Why on earth would he need to talk to her again?! She had nothing to do with what the email was supposed to be about in the first place!!! 

She wanted to see if he would reply.

In the end though, she really, really, needed to get home. She had to be back here in less than eight hours after all, she could always check then. 

The relentless drumming in her heart was going to make it hard to go asleep tonight though. 

 

..............

 

Somewhere, on the other side of the city, there was a man typing away at his desk, and, despite himself, smiling with amusement at a couple lines of words he figured were written clumsily in haste.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: So you may have noticed that Ben Solo is now Kylo Ren (I have made some edits). I just realised that it would be a bit silly if his two names were Ben Solo and Ben Organa, and Rey not to realise they might be the same person so yeah, it’s Kylo Ren now. Personally to me it sounds a bit silly in AU circumstances but whatever, it’s Star Wars, and you’re all here reading this right now, so who cares haha! Thank you so much for your comments, it’s great to get such a warm response, it keeps my motivation going! Thanks for putting up with all the crappy grammar! For whatever reason, I picture the last scene with Chet Baker playing in the background. POV shifts a lot, so I’m sorry about that :-) Happy reading everyone and please comment and review!

Chapter 4

As Kylo Ren stepped out of the taxi, he squinted into the blinding sunshine, breathing in the cool fresh morning air. Today he would not be getting any coffee. He hadn’t exactly gotten over the whole fiasco with the weird girl yesterday. 

He stared groggily up at the Starbucks as he yawned. He’d stayed up way too late last night. He really needed a coffee…. 

As he walked past the coffeehouse, he wondered about the woman he’d spoken to that night before. Even though he hadn’t heard her voice, somehow he had convinced himself that she had a kind, soft kind of voice. It had only been a couple of emails, but he’d found himself in the middle of a conversation with her.

He knew her.… Sort of. 

Well, he knew that she worked at Resistance Books. So he knew where she was, so he could go and….. 

“No, you idiot,” he snarled to himself, but the short man walking in front of him must have thought that he was talking to him because he turned around, at first annoyed but then terrified as he looked up at Kylo Ren, who knew that he probably looked furious and rather terrifying in that particular moment. 

“I’m sorry,” squeaked the round faced man before shuffling as far away as he possibly could from the tall discerning man looming over him.

“I wasn’t— huh,” started Kylo, before realising that he was talking to thin air. He dropped his hand in defeat before starting to walk again, his footsteps a little heavier than before. Misinterpreted again. 

This was becoming a rather common occurrence; people looking at him in fear. In a working space that would be fine, if anything it worked to his advantage, but when it was happening everywhere, in the coffeeshop, on the street, it was just….. Ugh. 

The girl yesterday though. He hadn’t met someone with such understanding in a while. Actually, a long while. 

As he turned on the corner, First Order books came into view. But he wasn’t looking there, he was looking past it towards a much smaller bookshop situated at the corner of the street. 

Resistance Books… He could just about make out some shadowy figures walking around inside the shop through the display windows. She could be there…. 

No, he thought to himself, shaking his head before walking towards First Order Books. The reason why he had walked this way today was so that he could avoid passing the place. It wouldn’t be good for either party if his mother saw him. On the other hand, he really wanted to know who Bookshop Girl was. Even if it was just to see her face, what she looked like… 

“You’re such a creep,” muttered Kylo to himself as he hit his foot purposefully against a nearby lamppost before entering First Order Books. 

She probably already thinks you’re a creep and that you’ll start hanging around the store with your face pressed against the window…. His thoughts continued mercilessly as he glared at Hux who was standing by the cashier. 

“Do her a favour and don’t be that guy,” muttered the agitated man to himself before barking at his intimidated employee to get him a coffee pronto. 

 

………………..

 

Why did she say bookshop girl?! She should have just said shopgirl. Now he knows that she works at Resistance Books. 

Rey sighed as she opened the door to the bookshop. It couldn’t be helped, he was going to find out either way. 

She’d arrived earlier than usual because there were some extra books that desperately needed to be stacked. At least, that’s what she told herself and would be telling everyone else. It wasn’t really the truth of course. She knew the real reason.… 

As she dashed to the computer in the manager’s office, she didn’t even bother to take off her coat before logging into Leia’s account. 

As she had hoped, there was one new email in the inbox. 

After checking on the front door to make sure that Leia wasn’t about to come into the shop, she opened the email. 

‘Dear Bookshop Girl, 

So you are still at work! I agree with you; you should go home, it’s getting pretty late.  
I’m sorry to hear that you never knew your parents, I sort of understand why you wrote the initial email to me now.  
I must confess, I’ve never done this before. What I mean is, I’ve never conversed online with someone whose real name I actually don't know. However, I must tell that it’s been a surprisingly refreshing experience. It was nice to talk to you too.  
I think I’ll bugger off now and let you leave. 

Best regards, and I wish you a safe trip home, 

Ben’

After re-reading the email several times, Rey could not help the grin spreading across his face. He really didn’t seem to mind not knowing her name, if anything, he seemed to like that he didn’t! Maybe he was just being polite…. 

“Who’s Ben?” came a sly, yet distinctly masculine voice from behind, causing Rey to jump in her seat. She’d been so consumed with reading the email that she had totally forgotten to keep an eye on the front door. As she spun around in her chair, she came face to face with Poe Dameron, who was pulling his classic questioning eyebrow lift while hunching over and staring at the computer screen. 

“And why are you writing as Leia?” he continued, a smirk now emerging on his face. 

“Oh my god,” stuttered Rey, her eyes bulging. “I had no idea you were here. How long have you been standing there?”

“Well,” said Poe smugly, grinning at Rey, “I came in and saw you at the desk looking unexpectedly happy, so, being the snoop that I am, I silently came over and decided to take a look at whatever it was that you were so ecstatically happy about.” 

Poe watched expectantly as Rey’s shocked expression soon turned to that of anger. 

“Why on earth would do that?” she replied hoarsely as she stood up, logging out of Leia’s account as fast as her fingers could manage. 

“Because you haven’t smiled like that since, well, I’ve never seen you smile like that,” said Poe thoughtfully, looking at her with knowing eyes. 

Rey sighed. Once again, her friend had managed to see right through her. 

“You can’t tell anyone,” she replied flatly before moving past him towards the counter. 

“I won’t tell a soul,” said Poe, but the words came a little too easily to Rey’s liking. 

“I mean it,” she said, glaring at him. “Leia cannot know, do you understand?” 

“Ok! I get it! I get it!” protested Poe, putting his hands up in defeat. “Will you just tell me what that was all about?” 

Just as Rey was about to open her mouth, the door opened once more and Finn, soon followed by Leia, entered the bookshop. 

“I’ll tell you later,” muttered Rey before putting on a smile. “Good morning everyone, how are we all today?” 

“Not so good,” replied Finn, a look of absolute dread on his face. This expression was becoming more and more common. “Have you seen the massive sign outside?” 

“What? No, not this morning,” stammered Rey as she started to refill the glass jar on the counter with colour pencils. 

“Rey was a little preoccupied this morning,” replied Poe, keeping the tone of his voice rather nebulous as he winked at Rey, leaning across the counter. 

“Well anyway,” sighed Finn, thankfully not taking the hint nor noticing Rey’s now beetroot red face, “First Order Books is going to be open in less than a month.”

“What?!” blurted out Rey, her hands stopping in mid air. “Less than a month?!” 

“I’m afraid it’s true,” said Leia soberly as she put her coat in a hanger. “We need to be prepared for what comes next.”

“What do you mean, what comes next,” asked Poe, turning around and frowning at his boss with concern. 

Leia merely sighed and shook her head before replying, “Nothing you should be concerned with right now. Let’s concentrate on the present, which concerns getting the shop ready for opening time!” 

“Leia has every right to worry though,” whispered Finn after Leia disappeared past the counter and into the back of the shop where the manager’s office was. “Ever since that Kylo Ren guy took over the business-“

“You worked there once right?” interrupted Poe, looking at Finn quizzically. 

“Unfortunately yeah,” sighed Finn, avoiding Poe’s gaze. “They work you to the bone over there. All they care about is the profit, forget service, half the guys who work in there don’t know how to spell J.K Rowling.” 

“But this Kylo Ren guy… I’ve heard that he’s really changed the business these past couple years. It was just a small chain store to begin with but then suddenly….. boom!” 

Poe gestured with his hands as he talked. Rey had always felt like he was a very theatrical kind of person. Kylo Ren…

“Is Kylo Ren responsible for this new store?” asked Rey, intrigued about her new competition. 

“Probably,” shrugged Finn, taking off his coat. “He’s in charge of most things. He isn’t the owner of the company, but he’s the reason why it’s the giant business it is now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to take over everything and become his own board of directors soon. He’s still pretty young as well, so that just adds to his notoriety in the book business, since he’s managed to do so much so in so little time.” 

“Hmm,” replied Rey, lifting her eyebrows. “Have you ever met him?” 

“Met him?” repeated Finn, staring at Rey as if she were insane. “You kidding me? He’s the top Rey, the T O P! I worked in sanitation for god’s sake. Although…” 

Finn paused for a moment. 

“Oh no, there was one time,” he continued, his eyes out of focus as he tried to remember. “There was some sort of event, I was there working, I only caught a glimpse of him but… Man… He was scary as hell, really intimidating. People would naturally part ways if he was walking towards them.” 

“I see,” said Rey nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders before returning to what she was doing before, meaning getting the store ready for opening time.

“I take it you’re not intimidated,” observed Poe, smiling.

“No,” spoke Rey, a determined look on her face. “Resistance Books will not be intimidated.” 

Poe merely grinned in response, while Finn looked at her with admiration. A moment later, Leia appeared in the room once more. 

“Oh Rey, did you manage to do what I asked yesterday?”

“Yes, I did,” stammered Rey with difficulty, her heart racing because she had been unprepared to answer such a question so abruptly. 

“Good, good, and… any reply?” asked Leia tentatively. 

“No,” replied Rey, keeping her gaze steadily down towards the mosaic ceramic floor. “Not yet.”

Interesting, thought Poe to himself, as he looked at Leia’s somber face and then at Rey’s restless eyes. 

……………………

As Rey stepped out of the bookshop, she swore under her breath. It was excruciatingly cold tonight, and on top of everything else it was now pouring down with rain. 

“Great,” muttered Rey under her breath as she locked up the front door and pulled her hood as low as she could. By the time she got to the subway station she was going to be completely soaked. 

Too bad, she thought, before bracing herself and stepping out into the rain. 

After five minutes of walking and side stepping puddles, water, not only from the sky but also from other people’s umbrellas, was soaking her to the bone. She was starting to regret her decision to brace the weather. 

“Oh, this is hopeless, it’s at least another five minutes to the subway from here,” sighed Rey to herself as she gave up and walked to take some refuge inside the entrance of a supermarket on the side of the street, leaning against a column. As she did so, she became acutely aware that despite all the people rushing past her, some of them trying to get in, some of them out, there was one lone figure who seemed to be standing still next to her. 

“I was just thinking the same thing,” groaned the stranger, before turning to look at the woman next to him, who, simultaneously, did the same thing. 

It took a moment, but not very long, for them to recognise each other’s faces. After all, they had met just the day before. 

As one would expect, sudden social awkwardness ensued with neither knowing who should or would speak first. In the end however, Rey could not stand the suffocating silence. 

“You,” she muttered, staring up at the snobbish Wall Street man from the day before, ashamedly aware that she probably looked like a drenched cat, and not in a cute way. He was looking at her up and down with his pitch black eyes, his mouth a little shrewd looking, like the day before but slightly less discerning. He was wearing what looked like a waterproof, black, long coat but essentially he looked the same as the day before. “The man I spilt coffee on.”

She’s just as blunt and unapologetic as I remember, thought Kylo Ren bluntly as he stared, hardly believing his eyes, down at the strange coffee girl from yesterday morning. At least she didn’t look disappointed right now. In fact, she looked rather embarrassed, probably because she was completely soaked. Her hair was wet, stuck to her face, and her coat clearly wasn’t waterproof. Her teeth were chattering and her eyelashes were wet, her brown eyes glistening. She must be freezing….. 

“Don’t you have an umbrella?” he asked, but because of all the outside noise going on, he sort of shouted the words a bit, causing her to jump. His voice ended up sounding authoritative, which he felt immediately annoyed about. 

“No,” replied Rey, frowning. “If I did, I wouldn’t be completely wet, nor would I be standing here.” 

“No, of course not,” stammered Kylo, reverting his eyes away from her discerning brown ones. Well, at least they were even now; yesterday his shirt was ruined and now she was drenched because of it. That’s a bit harsh… Kylo felt himself blink several times as he turned his gaze back to the coffee woman. She was looking nervous now, finding it hard to look at him straight in the eye, almost like she was….. scared. Of course. He’d insulted her. Several times in fact. He’d been in a bad mood, and yes, she had acted very silly but… 

For whatever reason, he felt a sudden flush of regret. Perhaps it was because of what Bookshop Girl had written to him just before he had left the office this evening…

“I’m sorry,” he spoke quietly, staring down at the wet, foot print ridden floor. 

“What?” replied the girl, like she hadn’t quite caught what he’d said. He sighed in frustration before trying again. 

“I SAID, I’m sorry. About yesterday. About insulting you.” 

He noticed that her eyes had widened, and she was looking at him as if he had lost his mind. Nevertheless, he continued on. 

“It was rude and completely uncalled for, so I apologise.” 

“Apology accepted,” replied the girl quietly, her eyes softening a bit, but still looking up at him throughly confused. 

For a few minutes they merely stood there, the only sound being the usual noise of New York City, that of people walking hurriedly past and the constantly honking traffic. The sound of the rain, however, was strangely powerful and distinctive, rising above everything else. After a while, it finally eased up, but only slightly. 

“Where are you going again?” asked Kylo nebulously, reverting his gaze away from the New York scene and back to the wet brunette girl shivering next him. 

“The subway, it’s about ten minutes from here.” 

Kylo looked down at the umbrella in his hand. He suddenly remembered Bookshop Girl’s words. ‘You seem like a very kind and open minded person….’

“Here,” he said, holding out his black umbrella towards the woman next to him, keeping his eyes level so that he avoided seeing her facial expressions. 

“What?” replied Rey, not for the first time during their conversation. “You, you want me to-“

“Yes, I’m offering you my umbrella,” said Kylo Ren impatiently, frustrated at her slowness. “I’m only going somewhere one or two blocks away from here anyway.”

“But,” started Rey, before becoming speechless. This obnoxious man, this rude and completely despicable person today, seemed like someone totally different….. What was it with this guy? 

“Could you just take it so I don’t feel like a moron,” said the irritated-looking man, which Rey responded to by doing what he asked and taking the said umbrella. 

“But how do I give it back,” asked Rey, staring down at the huge umbrella before looking up, ”……to you?” 

The man had disappeared into the street full of commuters so fast that Rey found herself talking empty air. 

As she stood, dumbfounded by the recent string of events, she suddenly remembered that the Wall Street guy had been complaining, just as she had, that the subway was over ten minutes away, which meant that he must have.…… 

 

‘Dear Ben,

Thank you very much for your email yesterday. I did manage to get home alright in the end. I hope you don’t feel like I’m not being fair to you in not giving my name.. My personal feeling is that what’s the point in knowing a name without knowing the face or person behind it?  
You seem like a very understanding person, and I hope one day things with your mother improve. You were right about my lack of parents being the main reason I wanted to help by the way. I can’t help but to want to help people when they have family issues, even though I know it’s none of my business. It’s terrible, basically I am a snoop but I hate to see people neglect the good things they already have. Not that I am accusing you of such things, of course not! As I said before, you seem like a very kind and open minded person - after all, you were very accepting of me, despite me impersonating your mother initially!  
I hope you don’t mind if I pop you an email or two from time to time.. It’s nice to talk to someone like this, it’s just something a bit different. Anyway, I hope you have a good day, and I look forward to hearing from you sometime. 

Best regards,

Bookshop Girl


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Sorry guys for my crappy updating, just been so busy! Also, had to re-write things, plus, a major event in this chapter, so I needed to get it right. There is a ton of You've Got Mail dialogue in this one, maybe too much haha :-) I just realised that You've Got Mail is actually a remake of Shop Around The Corner. Which is a remake of Pride and Prejudice. Which makes this….. Well, it's not a remake but a rehash of the rehash of the rehash of Pride and Prejudice. If… that… makes any sense.
> 
> Anyway, don't forget to review guys, and happy reading!
> 
> P.S. Please check out, share and like my Reylo youtube video, it would be greatly appreciated! Title: Star Wars - The Force Awakens - Kylo Ren X Rey (Once Upon A Dream) HD
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yg8LTb75Gg
> 
>  
> 
> Also, if any of you use tumblr, check out my tumblr account: it's the same as my name here ;)

Chapter 5

As the weeks passed the chances of Resistance Books lasting past the next year were becoming increasingly thin. Leia was looking worse for wear and the employees were starting to get restless. Thursday afternoon, Finn had an outburst and walked out of the bookshop, mainly because Poe had been complaining that if the sales of his book didn't do well, he was going to have to move to Brooklyn. As much as Finn cared for Poe, Rey could tell that he felt like Poe was in no position to complain about his life. Finn already lived in Brooklyn. Not that Poe knew that.  
It was a very stressful time for everyone, and for Rey, this was no exception. She was finding it harder and harder to boost moral in the shop.

On the other hand, she had had a great deal of correspondence with Ben Organa, although Leia still remained oblivious to this development. They talked about mainly very trivial things, such as how much they both loved New York and the odd little incidents that occurred in their lives from time to time. Rey never gave her name, however Ben never seemed to ask and that left her feeling very content in animosity. There was a sense of freedom, liberation. She felt like she could be honest; say what she really felt, something she couldn't always do with others. She talked about her problems, although never giving any specifics. Her counterpart always seemed to have something to say, and the slightly annoying thing was, he tended to be right. He was extremely intelligent and witty, very honest, but he never came across as brutal as a result of it. Rey sometimes wondered whether he really was as he appeared in written form. Part of her wished to never meet him face to face, to continue this illusion (for, it had to be an illusion, right?) and never see the real Ben Organa. Deep down though, she was convinced that he was being as honest as she was. There was a part of her, which frankly scared her, that in fact wanted to meet him. It was just a tiny part though - at least, that's what she told herself. Neither party ever suggested it, but it remained in the back of their minds.

It was now towards the end of October, and the annual New York book publishing get-together was taking place, hosted, as always, by the New York book business' biggest patron. Leia had been meaning to ask Rey to go instead of her, as she was the newly appointed owner of the store. She couldn't elaborate on the reason why, which was frustrating, but it was something she had gotten used to feeling time and time again. If only she could tell Rey… But to do so would mean hurting her as well, which was the last thing she wanted to do. She wasn't an idiot of course, she knew that eventually she would have to tell her the truth about Ben. Rey would inevitably meet him tonight, whether she knew it or not.

In any case, this was how Rey found herself begrudgingly attending the event. It would lead, as Leia knew, inevitably, into a certain conflict. She wondered how Rey would deal with it, and whether she could possibly save her little bookshop, and more importantly, survive against her competition.

As Kylo Ren stepped out the elevator adjusting his black jacket, he found himself feeling unusually nervous. Although he would never openly admit it, he had been feeling quite anxious about this social gathering, first and foremost because he, well, didn't really enjoy these sorts of things, second, because he loathed the superficial charm that people oozed on occasions such as this, and third, because he feared that a certain person may be present. This was his first official public outing as the head of First Order Books, so he could be forgiven for feeling nervous… But he had not seen nor heard from his mother in over ten years. He did not know if he was mentally ready to take on such a confrontation just yet.

Nevertheless, he took a deep breath in order to compose himself before straightening his black tie and proceeding towards the entrance door.

"You're looking very sharp this evening," came a sly voice from behind him just as he was about to ring the doorbell. He could recognise it anywhere, and not in a good way.

"Hux," he muttered to himself before turning around in annoyance. "I did not realise that you would be here."

"Yes, well, Snoke seemed to think that it would be a good idea if I attended as well," replied Hux, straightening himself and lifting his chin ever so slightly too high. "Perhaps as an extra precaution, in case you lose your nerve this evening and let your personal feelings take over certain business matters."

It took every ounce of control for Kylo Ren not to sneer and throttle Hux there and then. He did not, however, as he didn't wish to give Hux the satisfaction.

"What do you mean by personal?" he instead asked, turning away from Hux's smug face to ring the doorbell.

"You will be glad to hear that your mother will not be in attendance this evening," replied Hux with ease.

"Why not?" asked Kylo Ren sharply, keeping his voice as uninterested and cold as possible.

"She no longer owns Resistance Books," replied Hux, just as the door opened and their host invited them in. Despite all the chatter and general human noise that suddenly invaded his ears, Kylo Ren could still only hear the echo of Hux's previous words.

"She has passed it on to her successor," continued Hux, his voice filled with self-enjoyment, as if knowing that the man in front of him was hanging on to his every word. Kylo Ren, however, refused to turn around to face him as they walked into the room full of publishers, writers, critics and various other sorts that occupied the book business world. "That successor is apparently here tonight."

"Too bad for whoever they are," replied Kylo bluntly before walking away. Hux smirked in response, staring at the back of his intimidating colleague before stalking off into the opposite direction.

"Indeed," he muttered to himself.

As Kylo Ren approached the bar, he wondered to himself whether the Bookshop Girl was the one Hux was referring to. It seemed highly unlikely, but nevertheless, he found himself feeling certain conflict that was not usually present when it came to business. He was being ridiculous though, of course she couldn't be the new owner. Based on their conversations she sounded much too young to be-

"A white wine, please."

The melodious voice came out of nowhere; he probably hadn't even noticed the girl in the black cocktail dress standing next to him because he had been ruminating, staring vaguely down at the counter. As he frowned, for a split second, he vaguely remembered the voice. But it was coming from-

He turned his head sideways.

And came face to face with the girl.

The coffee girl from that morning.

The girl he had begrudgingly given his own umbrella to that rainy afternoon.

...

"We're fine," stammered Rey, nodding her head a little too enthusiastically, as she stared at Poe. "We can do this."

"We can do this," repeated Poe, as he stared at her, but they could both see the panic strewn on each others faces as they waited impatiently for the host to get the door. "You look lovely by the way. The black dress, very classy."

"Thanks," replied Rey as she gave him a tight smile, hoping her chignon wasn't falling out of place. "Lovely is the last thing I'm feeling right now though."

"Well, just think about how I feel. Newly published author, meeting a whole load of pros who probably still don't even acknowledge me as a writer, let alone think I deserve to be published."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true," retorted Rey, annoyed. "We'll be okay, we're-"

Finally the door opened and the host greeted them.

"And how are you this evening?"

"Fine," replied Poe and Rey in unison, smiles plastered on their faces before they walked nervously inside.

"Well, it really is packed in here," observed Rey, gazing over the sea of people in the room, all chatting animatedly over the jazz music playing in the background. Most seemed to be standing and talking with wine glasses in their hands.

"I think I'll go find the bar - would you like something?" asked Rey as she pulled out her purse.

"Oh, sure," replied Poe, already spotted by a man in glasses, who was waving enthusiastically for him to come over to his group of people. "Red wine or something, that would be great Rey."

Rey rolled her eyes before telling Poe to stop looking so tense and go over and socialise. He winked at her in response before doing just that, leaving Rey to go in search of the bar.

It wasn't hard to find, and luckily, there was not much of a queue. With two bartenders working behind, and only one tall man ordering, Rey managed to walk up and order with ease a white and red wine to the other unoccupied bartender. It was only a second later, but she noticed that the man standing next to her had turned to face her.

Perhaps he had recognised her? Highly unlikely; she had only just recently taken over Resistance Books and-

As she turned to face the stranger, she came into contact with two vaguely familiar brown eyes. As she frowned and blinked, she gasped and flinched back, suddenly recognising his prominent nose and shrewd mouth.

For standing in front of her was none other than the strange man who had given her his umbrella that very rainy late afternoon. He was not wearing his coat this time, however he looked even more formal than before, with his black suit and tie.

"Y- You?" she stammered, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, her wide eyes reflecting the expression worn by him, that is, one of shock. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," replied the man, in a much calmer manner than her, his voice nevertheless wavering ever so slightly. He was staring at her with alarm though, as if her mere presence at a place such as this was unacceptable. As if she was somehow inappropriate.

He's probably wondering why such a rough, low class girl like me is attending an exclusive, Upper East side, cultural, social gathering such as this, thought Rey bitterly to herself. Turning away and smiling at the waiter, she picked up both her and Poe's drinks.

"Well, I was invited so that's why I'm here," she replied hastily.

As she waited for his response, awkwardly standing with a glass of wine in each hand, it slowly dawned on her that there was none, and that he was merely standing there, staring at her, making her feel increasingly like an idiot. This sort of awkwardness seemed to be becoming a regular thing with them, and it was something she definitely did not appreciate. So she continued on talking, or rather, talked herself out of the situation.

"If you will excuse me, I must get back," she muttered, ignoring his calculating gaze as she passed him by, back into the throngs of people.

Who was he anyway?

Rey sighed deeply as she approached Poe, who was talking animatedly with a group of middle aged men, most of whom looked like writers, due to the fact that their attitudes and clothing was distinctly different to those of the more "business" side of the book business. To put it bluntly, they weren't exactly as formal…

"Oh, thanks so much Rey," said Poe as Rey passed him his drink. "Gentlemen, this woman is the newly appointed manager and owner of Resistance Books."

"Why young lady, you must be very proud, especially to be able to take over from Leia Organa, such an enchanting woman… The bookshop will be refreshed, and you'll be able to pull up it's standards even more than your predecessor," said an elderly gentleman with a warm voice, whom Rey easily figured out was the one who had called Poe over.

"I don't know Albert," butted in another, a man who looked slightly younger, who was now looking at Rey with caution. "I think this one needs to learn a bit, if she wants any chance of keeping that bookshop on the corner going."

"What do you mean?" asked Rey, frowning.

"I mean, you should be careful. I was watching you just now at the bar. Didn't you realise who you were talking to?"

When Rey stared back at the writer blankly, he shook his head sadly in response.

"First thing you need to learn kid, is who your competition is. I can't believe you were just talking to Kylo Ren, the newly appointed Head of First Order Books."

"Kylo Ren?!" responded Rey hoarsely, her eyes suddenly wide with horror as she swayed, nearly spilling her drink. "As in-"

"As in he's going to take over everything," finished Poe darkly, looking behind his back at the very man they were talking about, who was conversing, in what seemed like a very agitated manner, with his equally intimidating colleague.

...

As the girl walked away, Kylo Ren found himself still trying to process what had just happened. Once again, she had exposed her rude ways, leaving him standing alone, slack jawed, looking like an idiot. At least, that's how he felt. She looked annoyed, but he couldn't really understand why. Maybe it was because of his voice. Perhaps he'd sounded a little too harsh. No, no he wasn't, it was because-

"I see that you just met her."

"What?" blurted out Kylo Ren as a voice interrupted his thoughts. As he looked up apprehensively, his shoulders sagged in disappointment and annoyance. Hux again.

"You seem to be in a daze," remarked Hux, his right eyebrow lifted slightly. "What I meant Ren, was that you didn't beat around the bush. Did you intimidate her sufficiently, scare her off, make sure that she would give up before trying?"

Kylo Ren frowned back at his colleague in response. Was Hux drunk already?

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a monotone voice.

It was now Hux's turn to frown.

"Are you drunk Ren?" inquired Hux, to which, Kylo Ren, in response, was about to throttle him when, luckily for him, Hux started to continue. "I meant the woman, the new owner of Resistance Books."

Kylo Ren stared blankly back at Hux.

"You didn't know?" stammered the ginger haired man, staring back at his rival, his tone of voice genuinely dipped in incredulousness.

Instead of responding to him, Kylo Ren turned calmly away from Hux and paced towards the buffet area, still trying to process the information. He had no wish for Hux to see the bewildered expression he currently had on his face.

In fact, he wished that he had had a mask.

...

Rey wasted no time as she followed Poe's eyes to where he was staring and saw Kylo Ren. The man who'd been mysteriously popping up everywhere… Why hadn't she suspected? Had he been spying, spying on her, on the bookshop?!

She could feel herself getting hotter, her blood pressure rising. It was unacceptable, simply unacceptable. And he pretends to be so above her, when he's the one that had been walking around most inappropriately. She took back all the remorse she'd felt previously when she'd split coffee on him. That sly man had completely deserved what he'd got.

And now the same 'sly man' was now standing at the buffet, his back facing towards her.

"You," she started, facing that same large piece of black mass that she had bumped into that fateful Monday morning, "You are Kylo Ren?"

The man turned, which for her, confirmed the awful truth.

...

She was staring at him like he was a ghost, a phantom. She didn't look scared necessarily, just shocked. For some reason, her wide, dark, brown eyes were making him feel uncomfortable, which was strange, because he had been expecting to feel simply annoyed, like he always did in situations like this.

"God," stuttered Rey, staring up at him. "I didn't realize, I didn't know who you-"

"Were with?" interrupted Kylo, his voice dipped in sarcasm as he turned to pick up a plate and avoid the girl's piercing eyes. Usually this was how he dealt with people like her. He took control of the conversation, steering it away towards a quick resolution so that he could get away as quickly as possible. He liked doing this, putting an end to insignificant conversations. But this time, it felt weirdly forced. " 'I didn't know who you were with.' "

"What?" replied the poor girl incredulously, frowning at the man as if he were mad.

"From the Godfather?" prodded Kylo, as he turned reluctantly to face her. After seeing her confused expression, he turned away once more, feeling even more annoyed than ever. She really was making him feel uncomfortable.

"No? Nevermind," he continued on spitefully before starting to walk around the buffet table.

"You were spying on me, weren't you," came her voice again, causing him to sigh in annoyance, his back turned to her once more. "With the coffee thing you were deliberately bumping into me, knowing who I was, making me feel like an idiot! And then with the whole umbrella thing, you were probably following me from the bookstore! You were just spying on me, weren't you!"

Half way through her rant, Kylo started to feel a weird mixture of emotions. Partly he was annoyed that this woman had turned out to be the manager. He had already caused unnecessary conflict, mistakes which she was now taking advantage of. But another part…. Well, he didn't really want to dwell on that just now…..

"Why would I spy on you," he muttered in response, staring down at all the glorious food laid out on the tables. But with his current mood being what it was, it might as well have been plastic.

"Because I am your competition which you know perfectly well!" came her voice again, this time sounding alarmingly close. As he turned, he noticed that she, indeed, was very close, and, despite their difference in age and, clearly, height, was doing her very best to appear intimidating, with her dignified posture and chin pointed up towards him. He swallowed as he stared at her before continuing. Clearly this wasn't going to be easy. In fact, very few people would act towards him as she was doing just now. Because they could take the hint that they were really going to regret it later.

And yet, here was this girl, getting away with it. And he really hadn't the slightest idea why. But it was starting to piss him off, that much he knew for sure.

"Do you realise how paranoid you sound," he began, his speech, in contrast to hers, very slow and his voice, rather low, not wanting to gain any unwanted attention because honestly, the ball of fire in front of him was really enough.

"Look, the reason I bumped into you is simply because you were not looking where you were going. I did not know at the time who you were, and quite frankly, I couldn't care less. I could have made you pay for your mistake but I was merciful and let you go, which, judging by the way you spoke about me in the coffee shop, you were completely ungrateful for. That rainy afternoon was just another coincidence."

The brunette started to narrow her eyes as he spoke, clearly not believing a word he was saying. He noticed a flash of outrage pass over her face when he used the word 'merciful'. She did not waste a second to respond.

"And that strange gesture? You giving me your umbrella? Just a form of blackmail I suppose?"

"Why the hell would I blackmail you with an umbrella?!" responded Kylo immediately, this time not caring whether he raised his voice. "Why would I go into so much trouble for a tiny little bookstore that probably sells only 250,000 dollars worth of book a year!"

In that moment, he saw that he had hit a nerve, because the girl stood rigid, looking up at him utterly gobsmacked, her eyes no longer so sure of themselves.

Hah, he thought to himself, feeling that familiar sense of achievement. Gotcha ya. Telling them what they were worth usually got them to shut up. Plus it intimidated them.

But then, just as he felt a smile coming on, a bitter taste entered into his mouth. As he stared down at the book manager, he suddenly felt the smile slip from his mouth. She looked like he had just slapped her across the face or something.

This wasn't normal. But then, he reminded himself that he'd forgotten, that was all. She wasn't used to this. You said it yourself Ren; she looked barely twenty. You just don't usually deal with people this young. That's all.

"How did you know that?" came her response finally, her voice breathy.

"I'm in the book business," sneered Kylo Ren pointedly, leaning towards her slightly before pulling back and turning back to the buffet and laying food onto his plate.

"I'm in the book business," retorted Rey, her voice low. He could feel that she was glaring at him, but he choose to ignore. As he turned to pick up cutlery, he sighed in frustration. He had thought that she would have sunk back in intimidation and left him alone there and then.

Obviously not. And yet… He knew he wasn't really trying. He could be worse. If anything, he was being soft on her. Which was unacceptable really, as she represented what he was trying to eradicate. Maybe, maybe just more push and she'd get the idea… God, this usually didn't happen.

And all this for a tiny, insignificant little bookstore, he thought to himself with irony.

"Oh, I see," he continued on, his voice lazy, "So I'm a spy…."

He looked to see that she was now frowning, her mouth slightly open, revealing that she was grinding her perfectly set teeth. "Yes, I guess I am. And I managed to get my hands on a secret printout of the sales figures of a bookstore so inconsequential and yet full of its own virtue that I was instantly compelled to rush over and check it out for fear it would drive me out of business-"

Kylo Ren stopped. Once he got going it usually was rather hard to stop. It was business; he was just pulling out the usual stops to make sure she was, as Hux said, significantly intimidated.

But as he turned, he saw that the young woman was now staring at him, proper staring at him, her mouth fully open with a knife pointed directly towards him. No doubt taken from the roast chicken sitting in front of her.

"What?" he grunted, looking at her pointedly, before staring down at the knife pointed towards his chest. He lifted his right eyebrow before looking up at her once more.

"Are you serious? You're going to kill me with a carving knife?"

It was only then that he noticed that she looked genuinely upset. Although the lights weren't particularly bright, he thought he could see that her eyes were glistening.

He noticed too that they were not completely brown, but flecked with emerald green around the edges.

They were strangely… beautiful.

Before he could really register what had just passed, the woman in front of him began to shake her head. Perhaps she was even near to letting out a whimper, but then a man appeared next to her. Kylo paid him no attention however, and continued to stare at the girl. He realised then that he didn't even know her name.

"Hi, I'm Poe Dameron," said the man next to her, obviously holding some sort of connection to her because he proceeded to look between the two of them and take the carving knife away from the girl's hands.

"Kylo Ren," muttered the Head of First Order Books, his voice once more uneeringly slow and low.

"Kylo Ren? Inventor of the Superstore? The enemy of the mid-list novel, tell me something: how do you sleep at night?"

As Kylo stared at the man who clearly was too preoccupied with his own hair, he wondered about this Poe Dameron snd his connection with the woman standing next to him. She was one thing, but to have such a man, an acquaintance he barely knew, speak to him in such a manner was not only tiresome, but really disrespectful. He felt like slamming the little wimp's head on the bar counter.

But before he had any chance to respond, Hux appeared from behind him.

He must have looked rather terrifying, because the young woman was staring at him with alarm. Actually, he'd noticed that she had taken a slight step back.

"You are Poe Dameron, is that not correct?" started Hux, breaking the silence.

"Yes," replied the brown haired man, looking at Hux suspiciously, grabbing the girl's arm as if wanting to turn her away from their present company.

Once again, Kylo felt a strange urge to punch the man in the face.

"Your debut novel was quite good," continued Hux, his nose in the air. "Still just potential, but I believe you have a huge career ahead of you."

"You liked it? God, I'm flattered. You know you write this stuff and then the whole week goes by and the phone doesn't ring, and you think Oh, God, I'm a fraud, a failure-"

Kylo Ren smirked in response to seeing this Poe Dameron character suddenly slobber all over Hux. He was just like all the rest.

As he turned to look at the girl, he flinched. She had been staring at him, unbeknownst to him. A look of utter disgust covered her face.

And also something else… Something that was now becoming rather familiar to him, even if he had only seen it expressed from her during their brief encounters…

The look of disappointment.

He felt like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

Why was this infuriating woman making him feel like this?!

"Have you thought of writing a sequel?" continued Hux, smirking down at the naive writer.

"Oh, sure, it's passed through my head-"

"Let's go Poe," started the manager of Resistance Books, pulling Poe Dameron's arm just as Kylo muttered Hux's name through gritted teeth.

"We'll keep in touch," replied Poe hurriedly as Rey turned and pulled him roughly away.

As Kylo Ren and Hux were left at the buffet table, Hux turned to stare at his colleague, who seemed unsettled.

"Well done Ren," spoke Hux with a smirk on his face. "I think you scared them off sufficiently. We need not worry about Resistance Books anymore."

Kylo Ren turned away from Hux's annoying face to walk towards the balcony area.

No, he thought to himself as he opened to window and pulled out a cigarette from his back pocket.

This was far from over.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: So, updating again, hopefully I can keep up the pace now that I have more time on my hands. Be warned - there are a lot of sentences starting with but in this chapter. Naughty old me haha. Thanks for the reviews, esp JuliaAurelia who has been following this story so closely, I really appreciate it! Happy Reading as always everyone, and keep following, favouring and reviewing!

Chapter 6

To say that Kylo Ren was ruminating when he got home would be an understatement. To say that he was restless and severely rattled as he ripped off his tie and shirt, preparing to go to bed, would be a gross understatement. To say that he had had one of the most exhausting nights of his life would be closer to the point.

Something had snapped inside himself tonight. He just didn’t know why. 

As he tossed and turned in his bed, he realises that it was all in vain and that he would need to let out his…. what, anxiety?

No, it wasn’t anxiety, just…. thoughts that would not go away. 

As he got up, he groaned out loud, feeling his body complain and ache that it wanted sleep. 

But he needed to do this. And he needed to do it now. 

As he sat down in his black leather chair, he stared at the bright computer screen in dismay, the only source of light in the room. 

Why had it come to this? 

Now, given the circumstances, it had become overtly complicated. 

He still could not believe that that coffee girl had turned out to be connected to that blasted bookshop all along. 

And here he was, conversing with someone who was connected to that very same bookshop. 

The world can’t get much smaller than this, he thought to himself darkly as he opened up a new email. 

Plus, he was starting to suspect that she might be….. She couldn’t be though. Bookshop Girl did not sound, nor act at all like the obnoxious woman he had had to deal with tonight. They were colleagues. They had to be. But…..

He run his fingers though his hair aggressively, trying to shake off the thought. Don’t go there Ren, don’t go there….. For now, just do what you have to do. 

Because the truth was, Bookshop Girl had been, for a while now, the only one whom he really conversed with honestly. He didn’t need to worry about what she thought of him, because she didn’t really. She had no context. And that was why she seemed so openminded. If she really knew him, knew him as Kylo Ren and not Ben Solo, well…. Let’s just say she’d probably never speak to him again. He couldn’t mess this up. He couldn’t let her know. 

Up until now, he had been fine. He was used to breaking relationships. They were all short term, and it was okay. He never felt shame. But tonight…. he had felt shame.

He would never admit that to anybody. In the past anyway. Now, however, there was somebody he could tell. And by god, he felt the strongest urge to tell her. 

So he did. 

Even though he knew that she might be whom he suspected her to be, it didn’t matter. Because she wouldn’t be talking with Kylo Ren. She would be talking with Ben Solo. 

…………………………

 

“He was the most disagreeable, rude, egotistic man I have ever met in my life, and that is really saying something!” 

As Rey huffed by the counter, Finn, who was on the opposite side, leaned gingerly away. 

He had only asked how the book social evening last Friday had gone. 

It was Monday morning, and they had both arrived at the same time, bright and early as always. Sunshine was streaming into bookshop, making it look even more beautiful and vivid in colour than usual. 

“Who was?” he asked carefully, mindful of his words. 

“Kylo Ren,” came a voice from behind. It belonged to Poe Dameron, who had just entered the shop. “Though, to be honest, it was inevitable that he would be there.” 

“Well, I can’t disagree with Rey,” replied Finn, keeping his voice warm and sympathetic, even though he was eyeing Rey quite hesitantly, as she had the look of a really pissed off tiger, gripping hold of the books in her hands too tightly. “From what I saw of him while working at First Order books, he was a quite a terrifying figure.”

“Terrifying?” retorted Rey incredulously, frowning at Finn, causing him to wince. Poe simply smiled to himself in response to her reaction, placing his jacket on a hanger. “I wouldn’t give him that. He’s simply a disgrace to the book business. The only thing he cares about is how many books he can sell, not the impact that they have on actual human beings.”

“Well,” sighed Poe, still smiling as he came to stand next to Finn, “for my part I was hovering in the background, waiting to see if you needed any rescuing, but you seemed to be handling the situation just fine.”

“Guess that’s just business as usual then,” quipped Finn, causing Poe to smile at him, not just with his mouth but with his eyes. Suddenly, Finn felt a blush coming on. Not a good moment. But he had no time to react because Rey suddenly burst out in anger, “Yeah, what the hell was that about?!” 

“What do you mean?” asked Finn, frowning, turning his gaze away from Poe to Rey, who was now fuming. She looked absolutely livid. 

“You were useless, slobbering all over Hux like that. Like some…. some puppy dog!” exclaimed Rey, glaring at Poe. Finn could see the anger in her eyes, and it was not something that he wished for her to gaze at him with any time soon. 

“Now just wait a second,” replied Poe, his voice, compared to her’s, relatively calm and stable. “I completely understand why you’re mad. Kylo Ren was clearly a terrible person, and he hurt you last night. But I don’t think that gives you the right to take it out on me.” 

“What are you talking about?” retorted Rey, staring at Poe in disbelief. Finn could hear that there was genuine hurt in her voice, and he wished that he could just make it disappear. 

“Poe, maybe that’s enough-“

“As much as I sympathise,” started Poe, talking over Finn, but keeping his eyes fixed on Rey, who was now breathing in and out very heavily, “I’m not the one who’s at war here. You are.” 

“Are you telling me now that we’re not on the same side?!” questioned Rey, her voice rising in volume, still angry.

“Of course we’re on the same side Rey, what I’m trying to say is….. I think you need to be more careful sometimes, and learn to not take your anger out on people who actually care about you.” 

“So you’re saying that I have anger issues now?” replied Rey, and Finn could tell that she felt very offended. Sometimes Poe could be too honest, and now was definitely not the time to be so. 

“Rey,” started Finn, when Poe gave no answer, “what is this really about. What is making you so upset? Because, I don’t believe that it’s Poe…”

For a moment, Rey seemed to have forgotten that Finn had been there, for she turned to look at him in surprise. After a moment however, she replied. 

“Poe is right,” she started, staring down at the counter, avoiding her friend’s warm eyes. “I know that I sometimes have a hard time controlling my emotions. It’s a reflex, a way of protecting myself. But last night…..” 

She paused, sighing before looking up at her friends. She saw then, that there was genuine concern written on both of their faces, and she suddenly felt like the biggest douchebag in the world. 

“I couldn’t do it. Despite what you say, Poe, I couldn’t protect myself. And I really don’t know why-“ 

She stopped then because she suddenly felt something wet on her face. She reached up with her right hand and roughly rubbed away what was on her cheek before looked down once more. 

“The truth is yesterday was not the first time I met Kylo Ren.” 

She could tell from the silence in the room that she had shocked them, but she continued, refusing to look up to see their reactions. 

“Remember the day I came in and told you about the coffee incident?” 

She finally looked up. 

Both Finn and Poe were staring at her incredulously with their mouths hanging open. 

She couldn’t help sniggering then. 

“You… have got to be kidding me,” murmured Poe. 

“Seriously?!” shouted Finn, unable to hold back his surprise. 

Rey merely nodded, her eyebrows raised in inevitability. Strangely she felt better now. 

“Yep. And the umbrella too.” 

“You mean the guy who gave you THIS umbrella?” replied Poe, pointing towards the very same one now leaning on the wall next to the entrance door. 

“Yeah,” breathed Rey, before turning to look at them both. “So… that complicated things a bit?”

“Hang on, wait a second, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this,” muttered Finn, holding his hands up to his temples. “You didn’t know though, right? At the time, that he was-“

“Of course I didn’t!” replied Rey, feeling silly in having to state the obvious. “I wouldn’t have acted the way I did if I had known!”

“But did he know who you were?” questioned Finn, pointing his finger towards Rey as if interrogating her.

“No,” replied Poe before Rey had a chance to speak, “from what he said, I think not. He looked just as surprised as she was.”

“But he gave you his umbrella… Maybe he’s not actually that bad?” questioned Finn, but both Poe and Rey turned to look at him as if he had just lost his mind.

“Just a suggestion,” he mumbled timidly, holding both his hands up in defence. 

“I thought he knew and that he had been blackmailing me, making me look like an idiot.”

“It’s possible,” replied Poe, folding his arms and leaning on the counter. “But judging by his reactions, I think not. But regardless of any of that, the way he behaved was appalling, which was why I tried to intervene in the end. You did really well Rey, given the circumstances and who you were up against. It all makes sense now. I’m sorry Rey, I take back-“

“No don’t,” interrupted Rey, holding her hand up. “You’re right Poe, regardless of the circumstances. I do have a problem with my emotions. You were honest, and I’m grateful for that.” 

Finn smiled as he watched the exchange. He knew very few people who would react as she had just done. Kylo Ren certainly would not have. 

Poe smiled sadly in response but did not reply. He understood, so he tried to drive the conversation on to more peaceful pastures. 

“So how’s it going with the other guy?”

“The other- oh! Yes, well, he’s nice,”

“He’s nice huh,” replied Poe, his right eyebrow raised teasingly. 

“Yes, he’s nice, speaking of which, I need to go check my email,” said Rey before leaving the counter and walking towards the back of the store into the manager’s room. 

“I think you mean Leia’s email don’t you?” hooted Poe, causing Rey to roll her eyes at she sat down and logged into her email. She felt her heart jump in surprise to see that Ben Solo had left her a message on Friday evening. It had already been a week or so since their last conversation. She opened the email and began to read in anticipation. 

‘Dear Bookshop Girl, 

It’s really late, and you’re probably asleep at home. I just felt like sending you a quick message, that’s all. 

Recently I’ve been noticing that my behaviour towards others is really not what it ought to be. I’ve never really felt guilty in the past, but I’ve started to notice that I am nowadays. Maybe it has something to do with growing older. 

Do you ever feel you become the worst version of yourself?’

Rey smiled in response to the question. I just did, she thought, before continuing to read. 

‘That a Pandora’s Box of all the hateful parts - your arrogance, your spite, your condescension - had sprung open. Someone provokes you, and instead of just moving on, you zing them. Hello, it’s Mr Nasty. Even if they deserve it, there is a limit. Sometimes I think I don’t see the limit till I’ve crossed it. By which time, of course, it’s too late, that damage is done. I’m sure you have no idea what I’m talking about.

Best regards, 

Ben’ 

Rey stared at the screen. He hadn’t said anything specific but she couldn’t help but shake her head. She knew exactly what he meant, except of course, she had somehow messed up last week, and ended up hurting her friends instead of the person she had meant to hurt but failed to do so. 

She immediately replied, her fingers whizzing across the keyboard. 

‘I know what you mean and I'm completely jealous. What happens to me when I’m provoked is that I get tongue-tied. Not when I’m with people I care about. But just sometimes, with people I really want to hurt. Usually I can do it, but sometimes…. I somehow go weak. My mind goes blank. Then I spend all night tossing and turning trying to think of what I should have said.’

She sent it and turning to see that Finn and Poe were talking quietly while organising the new stock on the shelves. She smiled to herself before her eyes passed to outside, where a bunch of people were standing in front of the First Order Books banner advertisement. It would be opening soon…

The truth was, Rey was scared shitless. She really did not want to disappointment Leia. But moreover, she did not want to disappointment herself. 

She flinched at the sound of new mail coming from the office computer. Her eyes widened as she saw that Ben Solo had replied. 

She opened the mail hastily and began to read, ignoring the yelp and cluttering sound of books coming from the shop. 

She smiled in content as she read, breathing in deeply. 

Until the last line. Her eyes suddenly switched to that of alarm, and her body froze. 

“Meet?” she whispered to herself, staring at the screen. 

 

‘Dear Bookshop Girl, 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could pass all my zingers to you and then I wouldn’t behave so badly all the time and you could behave badly when you wanted to? On the other hand, I must warn you that when someone as good hearted as you finally has the pleasure of saying the thing you mean to say at the moment you mean to say it, remorse, I suspect, will inevitably follow. 

Do you think we should meet? 

Best regards, 

Ben’


	8. 7

Chapter 7 

It had taken him a lot of courage to write that last line. But he needed to know. This restless feeling at the pit of his stomach was never going to go away unless he knew. Soon. 

When he woke up the following morning, he had hoped that there would be a reply, but there was none. 

And as he walked to the now fully constructed First Order bookstore located in the Upper East Side, he found himself checking his phone every few minutes.

He could not bring himself to look over at Resistance books, even though it stood within his eye line. 

Was he scared?

No. 

He was afraid. Afraid that he'd scared her away. 

Just as well, he thought cynically to himself as he opened the doors to First Order books. It was an hour till opening time but there was already a cue in front of the entrance doors but he ignored the customers stares and whispers as he entered and firmly closed the door behind him. Not yet, not yet. 

He smirked as he heard the people outside groan in frustration. This was looking up to be a very promising start. 

So much for hating the big bad chain store. If there was one thing that Kylo Ren knew to be true, it was that all customers, in the end, were fickle hypocrites. 

He frowned as he remembered the high and mighty coffee girl from yesterday. She didn't even deserve to be called a 'manager'; her lack of professionalism was astonishing but somehow he got the sense that she wasn't somebody who he could easily seduce like the customers standing outside the door. 

She had integrity, he would give her that. And he hadn't seen much of that quality in a very long time. 

In a way, it made her a worthy opponent. 

Pity that she has no chance of winning, he added to himself before moving on and approaching Hux, who was standing by the cashiers. 

"It seems like things will turn out as you predicted Ren," he spoke, his voice filled with malice. "This store will undoubtedly work like a well oiled machine. In fact, you might as well go home, looking at how smoothly things are going."

"Is that so," drawled Ren, his speech slow. "I would advise you, Hux, to not get cocky. Any slight misstep could jeopardize this operation." 

"That's rather cautious, coming from you..." muttered Hux, sounding ever so slightly surprised. "You're not seriously considering that tiny little bookshop on the corner as a possible threat, are you?" 

"No, of course not," spoke Ren immediately, narrowing his eyes. "You saw how they presented themselves last Friday. That girl does not even deserve to be called a manager, let alone an owner of a bookstore." 

"Indeed. Nevertheless, I did detect that you seemed to be overtly interested in her. Was there any particular reason why? I was highly surprised to find that you did not recognise who she was." 

"She didn't seem to understand whom she was dealing with. I was simply making sure that by the end of our conversation she did. And I succeeded." 

Hux stared at Ren for a second, his face giving nothing, before turning away from him to face the tills.

"I will only say this one more time. Do not let you personal feelings get in the way. That bookshop should be ignored." 

Kylo Ren had never felt such fury rise within himself before. He clenched his fists as he gritted his teeth and glared at Hux's back. 

How dare he. What the fuck was he implying?! 

Instead of replying to Hux, he turned and stalked off in the opposite direction, opening the doors to the outside once more, this time letting the door slam back by itself. 

........................ 

A week later

 

"So how are we doing?" asked Rey, dreading what Leia was going to say. 

"Well, we are doing currently 1200 less than we were this time last year," started her mentor, who was sitting in the office while Rey stood by the counter. From the display window she could see all the people coming in and out of the bookstore. The past week had been one of the most depressing in her life, and it was not due to the rain. 

If things continued as they were, the bookshop would be in serious trouble. Serious, serious trouble. 

But she couldn’t let the others know that. 

“Their store is new. It will all simmer down eventually,” said Rey with as much conviction as she could muster. 

Leia stared back at her successor, smiling sadly. 

They both knew the inevitability of their situation. It was painful enough to know it. It was just going to take a bit more time before they could openly admit it to one another. 

…………………….……..

 

As Rey left the bookstore, she felt a weird sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach. Some part of her was frightened. Frightened that perhaps one day she would be standing her, closing the front door of her beloved shop for the very last time. 

“Don’t be silly,” muttered Rey to herself before turning away and walking towards the supermarket two blocks down. 

It was late evening, and although it was not raining, it was very cloudy, blocking the moonlight from shining down. This only furthered Rey to feel increasingly heavy and depressed. Today was turning out to be one of the worst days she’d ever experienced. 

Things had been so chaotic of late, that she hadn’t even time to figure out how to reply to Ben. Part of her wondered if she was just avoiding the confrontation…..

As she approached the supermarket which stood just beyond the zebra crossing, she tightened her grip around the red umbrella in her right hand. Well, it did look like it was about to rain and she’d forgotten to bring hers this morning. So it made perfect sense for her to use the red one. 

As she opened the door, her ears were flooded with the sounds of shopping carts slamming together and cashiers beeping. The place was completely packed and she felt herself sigh in disappointment as someone shoved past her towards the glass doors behind. Clearly this was not going to be a relaxing shop after a long exhausting day at work. 

Rather begrudgingly, Rey picked up a basket and headed towards the fruit and veg corner, thankful that it was at least a little less crowded than other parts of the supermarket. 

What to get…. what to get… Can’t be picky of course, she thought to herself as she decided what to buy. 

“Oh who cares, get what’s half price,” she muttered to herself before picking up some broccoli that was nearly past it’s sell by date. 

It was a habit that she hadn’t been able to get rid of; being rather stingy towards herself. She hadn’t exactly come from a very wealthy family, if her inheritance was anything to go by (in other words, nothing), and she had spent the majority of her teenage years earning money in various part time jobs, all the while trying to study and attend school. Being an orphan meant you got certain support and care, but she had refused to be put into a foster family, and at sixteen was finally free to do as she pleased. An independent life however, was a also a hard one. But she’d gotten used to it, and by the time she finished school at eighteen, she’d had enough money saved to move to the big apple and attend university. They’d given her a scholarship, which was a miracle in itself, but it didn’t exactly cover living costs. Studying English Literature, she knew, was not going to lead to any sort of career which would lead lots of money, but she had gotten so used to living right on the edge that to her it no longer mattered whether she was poor or rich. Which might seem very selfish and short sighted, but she never contemplated that she would ever really have a family of her own. She was a survivor, had been all her life, but she also had her passions and dreams, just like anyone else. 

So naturally, she wasn’t going to let her current situation stop her from chasing them. Even if that involved going up against a big corporate book company with a mean bully sitting at it’s top, all the while degrading her in the process. 

No. She had to do something. 

“But what?” she said out loud as she put her basket on the cashier table, staring down at the vegetables melancholically. As she started to melodically put the vegetables in her bag, she wondered what would happen if the shop really did close. It was her income, and Leia had given her the store, trusting that she would be able to keep it afloat-

“Excuse me.”

She didn’t even notice that the woman sitting by the cashier was glaring at her with disdain in her eyes. 

“Excuse me,” she repeated bluntly, finally causing Rey to look up and make eye contact. “Can’t you read the sign?”

“What?” stammered Rey, frowning at her woman with worry. What had she done now?! 

“The sign,” repeated the woman, who’s piercing blue eyes were starting to make Rey feel rather pissed off, “Up there! Can’t you read?!” 

“The sign,” repeated Rey softly before looking up. 

She felt her heart sink as she read the sign floating mockingly above her. 

‘CASH ONLY’

“I’m so sorry,” said Rey before taking back her card, which she had put down on the till nonchalantly without thinking. She began to leaf through her purse, but she knew even before she had began that she did not have enough cash to pay. 

“I’m sorry,” she started again, looking up at the cashier lady, who was staring at her with raised eyebrows, “all I have is a dollar.” 

“Get in another line,” replied the light haired lady through gritted teeth. 

“I’m so sorry,” started Rey, putting on her negotiating cap, “but could you please just this once let this pass and let me pay by card? Please, it would be such help and-   
“Get in another line,” repeated the woman, glaring at Rey as if she wanted to punch her in the face at any moment. 

Rey felt her shoulders sag. This was getting her nowhere, and as she turned to her left side, she saw that the other customers were glaring at her too, with the same look of disdain. 

As if the day couldn’t get any worse. Did everybody in New York City hate her and feel compelled to give her death glares?! Did she just have one of those faces which caused that sort of reaction in people?! By god, they reminded her so much of those cold black eyes, eyes which belonged to that awful, obnoxious-

“Hello.” 

The unmistakably masculine voice had come from her right hand side, cutting through the white noise like glass. She knew with such inevitability, even before she moved her head swiftly towards the source of the voice, who was standing next to her. 

She felt her eyes narrow and her shoulders sag even further as she looked up at the tall, dark haired man in the black coat looming over her. 

This really was the worst day of her life. 

Kylo Ren was staring down at her, as usual, with that strange, blank look of boredom and yet directness which never seemed to fail in making her feel very uneasy. 

“Do you need money?” he uttered, his voice low and yet clear. His facial expression did not change at all as he spoke. 

Rey stared up at him incredulously, hardly noticing that her mouth was open. He was even worse than she had imagined. Turns out he could manage to be even more insensitive than the last time they had met. 

“No, I do not need money,” she replied hoarsely, acutely aware that the people surrounding them where staring at them. Hadn’t he humiliated her enough at this point? 

“Get in another line,” started the cashier lady again, making Rey finally roll her eyes and lose it. 

“Listen lady, I have had a really bad-“

“Hi.”

Rey swivelled her head once more to look at Kylo Ren. 

He was staring at the cashier lady. Except not in the way he had looked at her. He was smirking, and there was a slight playfulness and smugness in his eyes, which made Rey want to roll her eyes again, except that she was too shocked to do so. She’d never seen such an expression on his face before. She hadn’t thought it possible. But as she turned back to look at the cashier lady, she noticed that the woman was staring back at him, not with disdain, but with bashfulness. 

Bashfullness. 

Rey felt grow even more frustrated, if such a thing were even possible. Incredible. Unbelievable. He was a two faced bastard as well. 

“Rose?” spoke Kylo Ren again, clearly reading the blonde’s name tag. 

Rey wanted to speak but she found no words. She had no choice but to witness the exchange in silence. 

“That’s a lovely name, Rose,” he continued to murmur, smiling at the woman, who was now smiling down at the floor and occasionally looking up at Kylo. 

“Rose, would you do me a favour and maybe help out this person for me?”

Person?! 

“It’s thanksgiving, and I’m sure a lovely girl like you wouldn’t hesitate in helping out just a bit.”

Her arch nemesis continued to murmur softly, leaning ever so slightly against the counter and continuing to smile crookedly at the blonde. 

“I see there’s a credit card machine next to you. I’m sure no one would notice…” 

The cashier lady was now smirking and, if Rey was not mistaken, fighting the urge not to giggle. 

What the hell was going on. 

Before Rey even registered what he was doing, he took her card effortlessly from her hand and passed it to the giggling girl. 

“Now, take this credit card and put it through the machine, it’s not that hard is it?” 

“No,” replied the girl, blushing as she smiled up at the tall man who had now turned to look at Rey. He was still smirking. 

“So you’re fine,” he started.

“Fine,” stammered Rey, utterly appalled at what had just happened as she turned to sign the charge slip. The woman was glaring at her once more as if wishing her a death sentence. 

As Rey picked up her groceries and turned to walk towards the exit, she saw that a dark haired man was still walking behind her. 

“What,” blurted Rey, refusing to turn around as she squinted through the glass doors, trying to see if it was raining outside. It was. 

“Nothing. I see you’re having a bad day.”

“You’re very observant,” replied Rey sarcastically through gritted teeth as she put on her gloves and started to open her umbrella. Her hands however froze as she gazed down at the red umbrella in her hands. No. This wasn’t her umbrella. It was….. 

“I see you still have my umbrella,” spoke Kylo Ren, his voice rather nebulous. 

“Yes,” replied Rey uncomfortably, “and since you are here, I might as well give it back-“

Rey turned around with her arm outstretched, holding out red umbrella, except Kylo Ren had now taken a step back and was holding his right hand up. 

“No, you keep it. You obviously need it again,” he said coldly, staring at her again with blank, unreadable black eyes. 

“I don’t really wish to be in your debt any longer. I at least know who you really are now. Don’t try to help me ever again,” replied Rey, and before Kylo Ren could respond, she thrust the umbrella into his chest. 

“Please, take it.” 

She saw that he was looking at her now. Really looking at her. He almost looked confused. 

But the moment soon passed, and she saw that he now stood a bit straighter. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were hooded.

Rey suddenly felt the need to leave. Fast. 

“Fine, if it makes you feel any better,” he muttered spitefully before gripping hold of the umbrella. 

He held her green eyed gaze for one more moment before she let go and turned to leave. 

Or rather, flee.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

When Rey had arrived back home, she knew that it would be better to deal with Ben Solo sooner rather than later. To keep him in any further suspense would be cruel.

As she sat at her small kitchen table at home, she began to write a draft (since when did people write drafts for casual emails), and vowed that she would send Ben an email the following morning. 

As it turned out, his response was rather swift the next day, and as Rey sat by the computer in the office room, the afternoon autumn sunlight streaming in through the stained glass window, she sighed in relief. 

He'd taken it well. 

Not only that, he came across as a very patient person, which, to Rey, was such a welcoming change. Most men, at least those whom she had come across, had very little patience, if any. 

What she was most happy about was the fact that their relationship, whatever that was, remained undamaged. He had written that he was always here to talk. 

Rey smiled to herself as she stood up and walked back into the store to prepare herself for her weekly turn as the Storybook Lady. 

Things were ok. He'd taken it well. 

………………

 

He hadn't taken it well. 

As Kylo Ren stared down at his phone, he felt his grip tighten and his breathing becoming more and more labored. Idiot, idiot, idiot-

"IDIOT!!!!!" he roared, throwing his phone across the office room, letting it hit against the office door. 

"You fucking idiot," he sighed, falling into his black leather office chair and leaning his head back. 

In the morning he had, after a whole bloody week, finally received an email from her, saying that they could not meet. 

She explained that it was nothing to do with him necessarily, just that she wanted to keep their relationship just online. She liked that she was free to say what she pleased without worrying about who she was or who he was. And she wanted to keep it that way.

He'd spent the good part of an hour in his office wondering how to reply to her. Should he get mad and dismiss her, close all contact from her? 

He knew deep down that he didn't want that. 

So, after a considerable amount of swearing and book throwing, he sat down and replied to her, writing in as polite a way as possible, that he accepted her choice and that he was still be here if she wanted to talk to him. 

She obviously had no idea what he had really felt upon reading her message. If she'd seen his reaction that morning, she probably would have fled and never spoken to him again. Perhaps not meeting her was the right decision. 

She would have found out a lot of things. Like how he had read Pride and Prejudice and not liked it. 

After a while, he had calmed down, and when he'd returned from his lunch break, he noticed that one message had arrived from her. 

When he opened it, he'd felt a new flood of emotions. And they weren't pretty ones. Which was how he ended up throwing his phone violently across the room.

Dear Ben,

Thank you so much for your email. It is so rare to meet a person who has such patience. It means a lot to me. Thank you for respecting my choice, I hope that we can continue as we have done in the past. 

I'm always here to talk too. 

Rey

He groaned as he slipped his face into his large hands, squeezing his eyes painfully shut. 

He couldn't do this for much longer. It just caused him to hate himself.

He couldn't pretend to be Ben Solo anymore.

………………

Two weeks later

"So what are we going to do?" asked Finn as he waved goodbye to the last customer. He was rather hesitant to bring up the issue, but it was no longer avoidable. 

"We fight," said Rey clearly, and Finn turned to see that there was fiery passion in her eyes. 

"What?" stammered Poe, looking a bit amused despite the situation they were in. He was in the middle of a balancing act, standing on a rickety ladder while trying to reach a stack of dusty books at the top of one of the wooden shelves.

"Do you know what ‘go to the mattresses’ means?" asked Rey, looking sideways at her colleagues rather hopefully while crossing her arms. 

"From the Godfather," replied Poe and Finn simultaneously, both turning their heads to look nonchalantly towards her. 

Rey groaned in disappointment. What was it with men and the frigging Godfather!! 

"Well, anyway," she grumbled, walking towards the front door and turning the sign to say that they were now closed, "that is what we are going to do. We're at war. It's not personal, it's business. We are going to fight."

"You know," spoke Poe, his voice rather sly as he continued to organize the top shelves. "You suddenly sound like you have a lot of confidence."

"I've always had confidence," said Rey brusquely as she shut the cashier till, not looking at either of her colleagues. 

"No, but you suddenly sound like someone gave you a boost-"

"I need to leave early tonight so can you lock up?" interrupted Rey, looking at Poe expectantly, but otherwise seemingly without emotion. 

"Sure," replied Poe after a slight pause, before pulling a wicked smile and turning back to the shelves.

Rey sighed deeply before walking towards the office. 

He knew of course.

But he'd apparently picked up that she didn't want to talk about it, so he hadn't pushed her any further, something she was grateful for.

Just as she was about to log in to the office computer, she heard footsteps approaching. 

She groaned. What was it now?

"Rey," came Finn's warm voice, and Rey immediately felt guilty. He was concerned, that was all. It was true that she had been feeling irritable, ever since that supermarket fiasco with Kylo Ren.

She hadn't told them about that, and she wanted to keep it that way. 

"Finn? What's up?"

"Er, look, I know I probably shouldn't say anything, but- it's him, isn't it? The one who gave you the advice to, er, fight."

Rey looked up at her friend and saw that perhaps she should have been more open about Ben Solo with him. After all, there was nothing to hide, was there. 

Was there? 

Why did Finn look so concerned though? 

"What are you trying to say?" asked Rey, keeping her voice steady. She didn't want him to think that she was angry with him. 

"I get that he's probably a nice guy, it's just…." 

Finn proceeded to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, avoiding her gaze.

"Just what?" she asked softly, turning in her swivel chair to face him. 

"Just be careful. You don't know him, not really, and the last thing I want to see is you getting hurt."

"I'm okay Finn," replied Rey with ease, a smile on her face. Sometimes she felt like her friend worried too much. "Ben Solo is a reasonable man, and he was just giving me advice for the shop."

"You mentioned the shop?" exclaimed Finn, his eyes widening in shock.

"No, no!" retorted Rey, looking thoroughly amused, "Of course not, no specifics. I just said that I wanted to know how to handle business that's all. The only word I used was business and competition, so he doesn't know that I own a bookshop or that I manage the business or anything like that. I can take care of myself Finn, and I know where to be cautious."

"Ok," replied Finn slowly, eyeing Rey in a rather guarded manner. It made her feel strangely uneasy. "Just be careful, please. He hasn't asked to meet you…. has he?" 

"Of course not," scoffed Rey before turning back to look towards her computer and log in. 

Now she definitely felt uneasy. 

……….………

Kylo Ren was in a bad mood. No, scrap that. He had been in a bad mood for a considerably long time. He was in an angry mood.

He knew why of course. What was rather annoying was that he was aware that it was entirely his fault. If only he hadn't given that advice. 

To be honest, he knew that Bookshop Girl could do very little to save Resistance Books. He couldn't help, however, in giving her something. He had wanted to give her hope, even though he knew it was pathetic to do so. 

It was business, it wasn't personal. He knew that. And yet...

For the most part he was still convinced that she was just a sales person there, but she would have inevitably passed on his suggestions to the coffee girl. 

He did not allow himself to contemplate whether she was possibly who he thought she might be. Every time the thought entered his mind, he pushed it away. 

What was making him feel increasingly frustrated on top of everything else was that the little place had actually started to fight back. 

As he walked into the coffee shop a couple blocks away from the First Order bookstore, he was reminded, as if on cue, of the coffee girl who had a knack of humiliating him in very public places, starting right here. 

As he started to cue in the busy café, he noticed that people were staring at him. This was normal of course, but today there seemed to be more than usual. 

He snarled at a stranger who had made the mistake of staring too long. The businessman immediately stared down at his newspaper, before beginning to nervously drinking his coffee.

That annoying little chit! He'd never felt so antagonized in his life. Coffee girl and her small band of amateurs... 

Leia Organa was a fool. That girl, whose name he humiliatingly did not know at the party, was called Rey and, as far as he could tell from his research, had absolutely nothing to recommend herself as a candidate for managing a book sales business, let alone owning one. True, she had worked at Resistance books for a few years, but she had been in and out of part time jobs before that, meaning that she had no stability economically wise, largely down to her lack of family and inheritance. 

Not that Kylo himself thought of that as such a defect, after all, he left his own family as a teenager and had, for the most part, built up a company largely on his own. 

Such successes, however, were rare, and Kylo knew that it was impractical, not to mention irresponsible, for his mother to dump all responsibilities on a young girl who most probably was way over her head and had absolutely no idea what she was doing. 

He could not understand what Resistance books were thinking strategically. Leia Organa must have known that he would have inevitably met her successor at the party last month. From his point of view, she might as well have thrown her to the dogs. 

He froze, lost in his thoughts.

Was he feeling… pity? 

Did he just refer to himself as a dog? 

"Your order please." 

"What," he growled before looking up at a young red-headed girl, who currently looked rather frightened and nervous. 

"Oh, espresso please," he muttered quickly before turning to look outside. 

He nearly laughed, and he never laughed. 

Of course, she'd be standing right outside the window. Coffee girl, shouting at the top of her-

What?

She was wearing a bandana. And she was shouting. 

Either she was insane or he was hallucinating or she was protesting. 

It was only then, as he paid for his drink without looking at the cashier girl, that he realized that there was a whole crowd of people yelling with her. And they were holding up signs. 

Despite all the noise in the café, he could clearly hear their voices.

"One, two, three, four, go home, and shut the gates. Five, six, seven, eight, we don't want your superstore!"

"Oh for fuck's sake," snapped Kylo Ren, causing the people around him in the coffee shop to shift a couple of feet away, and the cashier girl to drop his change nosily on the counter. 

……………..

"Ren, a moment please." 

Kylo gritted his teeth. Clearly the day had the ability to get even worse than he could have imagined. 

"What is it Hux," snarled Kylo as he walked through the doors of the First Order bookstore, now completely thriving and teeming with customers. 

"I assume that you already know about Resistance Books and their little plan to save their store," replied Hux, turning to walk in step with Kylo, his voice rather monotone as they headed down the glass stairs to the staffroom area. 

"Yes. It is inconsequential."

"I would not be so sure," retorted Hux, his voice suddenly angry. 

"Only a couple of weeks ago you seemed rather confident about this store," spoke Kylo softly, a small smirk on his face. "Have you changed your mind?" 

Hux gave no answer, merely glaring at Ren as he gestured for him to enter his office. 

"Perhaps this will change your mind," replied Hux, turning on the television in his office. 

The plasma tv screen opposite Hux's desk was suddenly flooded with the image of the Resistance Books' manager. She was smartly dressed in a black suit and had apparently been dressed up by a television makeup artist, for her hair had been swept up to make sure that the camera captured her face fully. Ren could deny that she was attractive. Too bad that she was a pill. 

This was clearly a recording of this morning's news. A male TV reporter was standing next to her, and Resistance Books could be seen clearly behind them. 

"We're here in front of the Resistance Books, the famous West Side bookstore now on the verge of having to close its doors because the big bad wolf, First Order books, has opened only a few hundred feet away."

Kylo felt hands tighten into fists. 

"They have to have discounts and lattes because most of the people who work there have never read a book," spoke the young green eyed girl, staring directly into the camera. It was slightly unnerving. 

"I have personally met Kylo Ren, the current Head of First Order books, and I have to say that he is one of the most egotistical men I have ever met. The only thing he seems to care about is the price of a book and how many copies of it he can sell within a week."

Hux turned off the TV abruptly and turned to face towards Kylo Ren. 

"So it turns out that you were right all along Ren," he said, after a short pause. "It seems like they may be a problem for us."

Kylo gave no response, merely staring at the now black screen. Hux noticed that despite his lack of response, Ren’s eyes looked dangerous. 

"It seems like you left quite an impression on her at the party. Much more than I would have liked. Perhaps we should alert Snoke of-"

"That will not be necessary," spoke Ren, his speech intentionally slow. He narrowed his eyes as he directed his gaze at Hux. 

Kylo knew his game. He just wanted to blame him and land him in trouble. Hux no doubt saw this as an opportunity. 

"Very well," replied his colleague, his icy blue eyes glaring back at him. "If this continues however, then such actions may become necessary. This store is your responsibility after all." 

Kylo Ren felt himself sneer at Hux before leaving the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. 

He had caused this problem to happen. Yet he felt proud of himself. Proud that he had such influence over Bookshop Girl, and subsequently Rey. When he saw her on television, when he saw the passion in her eyes, he'd felt this strange sense of adrenaline rushing through him.

Why? 

He ought to have felt angrier. 

Angry because he had caused unnecessary conflict for the company. 

Instead, he had found himself… Amused. Amused at the girl’s antics. 

Intrigued. 

He shook the thought from his mind as he bounded up the glass stairs. 

It was only later in the evening as he left the bookstore that he realized that he hadn't checked his phone to see if Bookshop Girl had left him any messages that day.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Well guys, (sigh) this took a long time to write. It’s long (well, by my standards anyway haha) but I figured as much as it is a very big scene! It was a hard one since I wanted to make sure everyone stayed true to their characters - I like fluffy of course, but this ship isn’t all hearts and flowers is it haha! FYI, part of this chapter switches between Rey and Kylo’s POV without warning, so just keep an eye out for that. Enjoy, and don’t forget to like, follow and, most importantly, tell me what you think by reviewing. Happy reading everyone! 
> 
> P.S. the end of this chapter is pretty much my version of Rey’s reaction when Kylo offers to teach her at the end of TFA. Also, please check out my new Reylo video on youtube!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj6nA6XRcps

Chapter 9

 

“Leia, what am I going to do?” groaned Rey, her head faced down on the table. They had just closed the store, and Finn and Poe had left, taking the hint that Leia wanted to talk to Rey privately.

All their effort, all that work, had been for nothing. Their sales had continued to drop throughout November despite all their campaigning; it was now December and Rey knew she was running out of time. She could picture Kylo Ren’s dark smirk and emotionless eyes even in her head as she felt a pit in her stomach. She wanted to dig a hole somewhere and bury herself in it.

“Don’t worry yourself sick over it Rey,” said Leia softly, and Rey felt her hand patting the top of her head. “It was inevitable I suppose, even though I thought having a younger person in charge might help us pull through at least till the spring.” 

Rey lifted her head and stared solemnly at Leia, who was wearing a sad little smile. As always, her hair was perfectly in place. 

“I’m sorry.”

Leia looked up at her with bewildered surprise before shaking her head and chuckling to herself. 

“This isn’t your fault Rey. This store has been on a bumpy road for a long time, even before the First Order showed up. It was never really stable to begin with. The slightest thing I knew would tip it off balance. I’m not surprised, to be honest.”

“But,” retorted Rey, staring at Leia with desperation. Leia was always so full of hope, one to never give up, a survivor. Now she seemed so quiet, resigned to defeat. Seeing her like this was awful. “We surely can’t give up yet. There must be something we can do?” 

Leia just stared at her, almost pitifully. 

“Honestly, I don’t know Rey. Unless there’s anyone else who could help or give advice…. but I think we’ve received all the help we can get.” 

And with that, Leia rose from her chair, signalling the end of the conversation and headed towards the door, picking up her coat from the hanger. Just as Rey thought she was going to leave quietly, Leia turned around to speak once more.

“The display is lovely by the way.” 

Her mentor then turned away, and the next minute, she was gone. 

Rey stared at the glass door as it quietly shut, the bell above the door ringing almost melancholically. 

There had to be something. Something…. 

Rey turned around to stare at the office room door, now slightly ajar. She could just about see the computer screen, glowing in the darkness. It seemed to be strangely inviting her in.

She told herself as she approached the door that she was only doing this out of desperation. 

……………………………………..

Kylo Ren could not believe what he was doing. 

Meet. 

As he walked through the downtown area of New York, he kept repeating the same word over and over in his head. 

Meet. 

She wanted to meet?!

What was he doing anyway, why was he even compelled to meet her now? She’d rejected him once before already, so why was he here?

“Why?” he spoke out loud as he stopped walking, staring down at the pavement. He must have spoken too loudly because the people around him were staring at him as if he were a maniac who had just grown two horns on his head.

He grumbled to himself incoherently, ignoring the annoying little throng before continuing to walk. 

A new thought entered his mind as he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. He would stay ten minutes. Yes, good idea. He would say hello, drink a cup of coffee, get up, say goodbye, and then that would be it. Easy. Simple. Nothing to fear.

He started to walk a bit faster, partly because of a sudden gust of cold wind hitting his face. As he passed a coffeehouse, he was reminded annoyingly of Rey and her protest demonstrations a couple of months back. 

“The little chit,” he growled to himself. That place would be gone by the end of the winter. He was sure of it, and he hoped that she was aware of that too. He’d consider her an idiot if she didn’t. 

He paused and frowned to himself before looking up. 

He had arrived. In fact, he had walked straight past their meeting location, being so caught up in his thoughts. 

Here it was. Takodana Cafe. He didn’t think that he would get here so fast. On the other hand, he should have known that he would have turned up ten minutes early. He was a fast walker after all. 

“Shit,” he muttered, before approaching the stairs. She’d written in her message two nights before that she would be waiting with Pride and Prejudice on the table so that he could recognise her. She would find out soon enough that he didn’t like it. He could try and lie about it, but he had never considered himself to be a very good liar. 

Just as he was about to open the door, he noticed that there was a little window on his left-hand side. He could just about see the inside of cafe, busy and bustling with waiters running and customers sitting around circular wooden tables.

He was ten minutes early, he told himself, as he edged towards the window to look. She wouldn’t be there. She wouldn’t, she-

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he could swear that his heart stopped beating. 

The book. It was there. Sitting on a table in the middle of the room. 

He couldn’t revert his eyes, even if he wanted to.

He suddenly felt like he was sinking into the floor. 

No….

She was wearing a dark green patterned dress, her hair loose, coming just below her shoulders. But the face was unmistakeable. 

“It is you,” whispered Kylo as he felt a pit in his stomach. 

Stepping away from the window, he stumbled and found himself gazing down at the mosaic floor. It started to dribble with rain. Not that he noticed.

He was a fool. Of course, he knew. This was hardly a surprise. He’d been in denial about this the whole time. He’d known the truth really for weeks. It explained why he never walked past Resistance Books on his way to work. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to see his mother. It was because he didn’t want to see her and confirm his fears. Logically speaking, it made sense. But… But his gut had told him that they were two separate people. He should have known of course that truth will out. 

He began to pace slowly around the entrance, fishing for a cigarette inside his coat pocket. 

What now? 

There was no choice really. He would leave. Make up some excuse later. 

Or….. 

He turned around to glare back at the golden doorknob behind him, as if it had been staring at him, daring him to hold it and open the door.

He couldn’t tell her.

But not to do so would mean more agony, both for him and for her. She would find out, soon enough. Clearly his mother hadn’t told her about him or shown her any pictures of him. It was a miracle really that she hadn’t figured it out. She must have been too intimidated to research and find out more about him. It was kind of covered up anyway, very few people knew he was once Ben Solo, he’d even legally changed his name for god’s sake, but still, he was a little surprised. 

He sighed in frustration before lighting his cigarette and crouching down. He didn’t really wish to be seen by the occupants inside.

It still didn’t make sense to him. How could such a creature be the same woman as ‘Bookshop Girl’? 

They were like two completely different people. 

So were you.

“Shut up,” he muttered to himself as he stood up again, causing an elderly woman who had just come out of the shop to swivel her head and glare up at him and say, “Excuse me?” 

 

……………….

 

As Rey sat in her chair, twirling her spoon in her now only mildly warm coffee, she grew increasingly nervous. It was a quarter past seven. She’d come in a quarter to seven. He was fifteen minutes late, and she had been waiting for over half an hour. 

As the cafe got busier and busier, Rey sagged more and more into her chair.

What if he didn’t come?

“Don’t be stupid,” muttered Rey to herself, before picking up Pride and Prejudice, which she had deliberately placed upright on the table so that he could see it when he walked in. 

If he walked in.

As she opened the book, she tried to ignore that last thought and instead attempted to push herself into an entirely different world, that being the picturesque Regency world of Austen. Yet as she started to read, she found herself staring at lines and lines of never-ending black, not the grand gardens of Pemberley. She couldn’t see the words; it was as if everything had merged together. No matter how hard she tried, she could not concentrate. She could only hear the mindless, annoying chatter of the people sitting around her.

“Hello.” 

The voice came out of nowhere. She should have gotten used to this by now, she should have known better. But she could not help the surge of hope rise within her. She later told herself that it was because the coffee shop had been noisy and that that was why she had not recognised who it was.

“Hel-," she started, putting on a smile and looking up expectantly, except her smile soon faltered and her expression quickly turned into that of horror.

Why? 

Why did this man always turn up when she was feeling vulnerable?! 

Of course, he needed no introduction. Since their little supermarket incident, Rey had been lucky enough not to encounter Kylo Ren on the streets of New York, but that luck had clearly run out now. 

Well, it was a miracle she supposed that they had managed not to run into each other during the past month. 

Or rather, crash into each other. 

Rey cleared her throat before regaining her posture and trying again. 

“Hello,” she said, trying to sound as unfazed as humanly possible. She could not help but notice that his hair had grown a little longer since their last encounter. His coat was still as black as ever. However, he wore a black shirt underneath as well, making it hard for Rey to see where his coat ended and where his shirt started. He looked like he was dressed for a funeral.

It was only a second later that she realised that she had been staring. 

And only a second after that to notice why she had been staring. 

He hadn’t responded. In fact, he hadn’t said anything at all. 

Rey moved her eyes away from his attire and back to his face, and stiffened upon seeing that he was staring directly back at her.

She could never understand how he achieved that look. That look of blank indifference and yet bold intensity. It never failed to unnerve her. Make her feel cold. 

But not enough to stop her from being able to stare back at him defiantly. 

They must’ve looked like two complete weirdos, one sitting stiffly and staring up while the other awkwardly stood staring back, refusing to look away. 

Kylo Ren, for his part, knew that he must have looked like a complete imbecile. However, he found himself in the odd position of feeling rather indecisive.

Let’s just say that that was very unlike him. 

He had found the courage to enter the place, but now that he was here, and she was staring up at him like he was the devil incarnate, there was very little he could think of to say. Except…….

Rey noticed that he was opening and closing his mouth, his eyes swivelling almost manically, first across the floor, then towards the table, then to her face, and then back again. 

She couldn’t take much more of this. She had seen how smooth he could be. Especially towards pretty cashier ladies with twinkling blue eyes. He was playing with her, and she had had quite enough of being played around with. He wasn’t about to mess up her private life as well as her career. 

She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him to fuck off and mind his own-

“Can I sit down?” 

It came out of nowhere, and before she knew it, he was staring back at her, a smug look on his face. Gone was the pale, blank, expressionless face. Gone were the dead, black eyes. 

It was as if he had switched faces. Rey knew as soon as the thought entered her mind that that was a very odd thing to say, but it was the truth. 

Was… was that a smirk?!

“No,” she replied, trying to sound as resolute as she could. “Absolutely not. I’m expecting someone.” 

Kylo Ren, however, proceeded to pull the chair opposite out with ease and sit himself down.

Rey has no time to say anything, only to react in outrage and gap at the sudden intruder before a waiter arrived, asking what Ren wanted.

“Mochaccino, decaf, nonfat.” 

As he said it, Rey was sure that she could hear a hint of humour in his voice. 

Cruel, sarcastic humour that is.

“He is not staying,” stammered Rey in desperation as the waiter walked away, leaving her alone with the soulless man who was threatening to take away everything that she held dear. 

“I’ll just sit here till your friend comes,” replied Kylo slowly in a drawl, his eyes now directed towards her nonchalantly, as if they were merely too bored to look anywhere else. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked through gritted teeth.

It was the only thing she could really think of to say. 

“I came in for coffee. Is that so strange?” 

His voice was annoyingly calm. In fact, he seemed completely relaxed, a contrast to how he had been mere moments ago. It came across as.… unnatural. 

“I see your friend’s late,” continued Kylo as he took off his coat and draped it across the back of his chair. 

“He’ll be here-“

“He?” interrupted Kylo, causing Rey to visibly flinch. He had seemed incoherent mere moments ago, and the sudden change felt jarring to Rey. He appeared to change with the slightest tilt in the atmosphere. It made her feel nervous.

“Judging by this book, he clearly isn’t any of those airheads working at Resistance Books,” continued Kylo, ignoring Rey’s frown and concerned eyes as he reached over and picked up the book sitting in front of her.

“They are not airheads,” replied Rey, her voice quiet but filled with barely contained rage. The fact that she was nervous just made her feel even more out of control concerning her feelings. “They are intelligent people, and they are my friends. I think you seem to be getting them mixed up with your own illiterate colleagues.” 

Rey saw a flash of something dangerous flicker across Kylo’s eyes. Though it was gone as soon as it came, she knew that she had seen something. 

“Careful,” he murmured, his voice low. “Hostility doesn’t suit you, and you really don’t want to make me angry.” 

She should have known better, but she could not help herself. She hardly noticed the waiter gingerly placing a cup of coffee onto the table. She was too busy staring into the eyes of her competitor.

“Is that an invitation?” she replied, her voice hoarse, her head cocked a little to one side.

Kylo glared at her for a moment before snarling and turning away to look outside. 

Rey sighed in exhaustion before slouching back into her chair. She looked down at her watch. It was thirty-five past. He wasn’t coming. 

“I really don’t need this right now,” she admitted, unable to keep the exhaustion from her voice, betraying just how vulnerable she really felt. “Leave, please.” 

“I’ll just stay till your friend gets here.” 

“You’ve already said that,” said Rey in a dull voice, glaring at him once more. 

“Pride and Prejudice,” spoke Kylo softly, ignoring her glare and instead leafing through the book in his hand slowly.

Rey once more found herself blinking at him in confusion. She was glad that his eyes were cast down towards the book. She didn’t want him to see the look of surprise on her face. His tone of voice changed so drastically, it caught her by surprise. He was so unpredictable. 

Or rather, unstable. 

“I guess you’ve never read it?” Rey bitterly replied anyway, even though she knew what his answer would be. 

Kylo looked up at her, contempt in his eyes, before slamming the book shut loudly, causing the customers around them to stare in their direction. 

“As a matter of fact, I have,” he replied coldly, his voice quiet in contrast to the loud slamming of the book. 

“Well, good for you,” was the only thing Rey could think of to say as a comeback. It was weak, she knew that. It sounded petty. However, Ren apparently did not seem to care to pick at it, for he moved back to the subject of the book.

“I didn’t like it. It was sentimental and unrealistic.”

“Well, everyone deserves to have their own opinion,” replied Rey, however she could hear the spite and narrow-mindedness in her voice as she said it. She hated how he was bringing out all the negative parts of herself. She felt ugly, unkind. Unlike herself.

“I think you’d discover a lot of things if you really knew me,” continued Ren, his voice nebulous, staring at her with his usual blank eyes. This time, however, he seemed to be searching for something.

Rey narrowed her eyes before leaning forward and replying, “If I really knew you, I know what I would find - instead of a brain, a cash register, instead of a heart, a bottom line.” 

It was out before Rey had had any time to think.

Staring at him with a blank expression on her face, Kylo wondered what exactly had happened. One moment she was snarling at him, and the next, she looked as if she had suddenly forgotten her own name or something. 

“What?” he growled impatiently, unable to hold himself back. 

“Nothing,” Rey replied, before quickly reverting her eyes away from his, her oh so familiar frown returning to her face. He would bet a hundred dollars that she didn’t wear that expression while writing emails to Ben Solo. 

Wait, what. 

Oh, for fuck’s sake, he couldn’t be getting jealous of himself could he?! 

“No, not nothing,” he replied spitefully, his voice so sharp it cut through all the white noise surrounding them. “What is it?”

Rey looked up, animosity burning brightly in her green eyes. 

“Having confronted a horrible, insensitive person, I was able to say exactly what I thought, that’s all,” she replied. 

“You never seemed to have a problem with that before,” he murmured softly. 

“Well, clearly you don’t know me,” she replied quietly, clear resentment in her voice. 

Kylo felt like screaming. He knew her better than she knew herself.

He froze. God, he sounded so egotistical. But it was the truth. She just didn’t know it yet. 

Rey stared in amazement as she witnessed a mixture of expressions flicker across Ren’s face. He looked conflicted. Except she had absolutely no idea why. 

Rage…. Frustration…. Determination…. Pain?

She didn’t understand him. Not just why he was sitting opposite her right now. In general, she didn’t understand what was running through his mind. Or, to be more accurate, she didn’t know what was going on in his mind. 

The truth was, she preferred it that way. She hardly thought there was anything really savoury going on in there. 

“Please, please can you leave,” she said, trying to pull him back to reality more than anything. He was scaring her, quite frankly. People were staring.

Kylo blinked back at her as if he suddenly realised that she was still there. 

After a moment, a shadow fell across his face, and he got up without a word. 

Rey sighed in relief. Now she could sit in peace. If Ben never came, it was too bad. But she held out just a bit longer. Anything could have happened. He might be stuck in an elevator, be in the process of being mobbed or-

She frowned. Hang on a second… 

Rey huffed in annoyance before turning around to glare at Ren, who had chosen to sit down again. 

Behind her. 

“You know what that dress reminds me of?” he inquired, refusing to turn around. And, without giving her any time to say anything, answered, “The first time we met.”

“First time you lied to me,” quipped Rey, turning back to face the way one ought to when sitting around a circular table. 

“No, I didn’t,” replied Ren, his voice hard. 

“Yes, you did.” 

“I didn’t-“

“No, you did,” interrupted Rey. She was sick of him interrupting her, it was her turn now. “You didn’t tell me who you were, dressed up like a wall street broker, all high and mighty.”

“I am not a high and mighty wall street broker-“ growled Ren but Rey interrupted him once more, turning around, this time, to look at him in the eye. 

“You were an arsehole, acting as if the only way you would forgive me was if I licked the very coffee I had spilt off your shoes!”

“Look,” said Kylo pointedly, getting up and sitting down once more opposite her. 

“I won’t say this again. I did not know who you were.” 

He said every word with so much exaggeration that even a deaf man could probably hear. 

Rey stared back at him with raised eyebrow before shaking her head. 

Suddenly they heard the entrance door noisily being opened. Kylo turned around. 

The guy might as well have said that his name was Captain Hook, with his red velvet coat, black boots, and feathered hat.

“I’ll take a wild guess, and say that’s not him,” commented Ren as he turned to face Rey. He could not help but notice she had sagged her shoulders and looked severely disappointed. 

“So who is he I wonder?” he asked, putting on a smirk. 

“None of your business, that’s what,” she retorted before looking silently down at her now probably cold coffee. “I’m used to waiting anyway.” 

Kylo blinked several times before staring at her, his eyebrows furrowed tightly together. What did she mean by that?

Furthermore, why was it that whenever he was around her, he always ended up talking so much? He doubted that he had ever spoken this long with anyone in his life.

Even if their conversation had mostly involved a mixture of shouting and whispering. 

Regardless, questions seemed to be tripping over themselves in his mind. 

“Will you be mean to him too?” he asked, trying to keep his voice as indifferent as possible. 

“No, I will not,” replied Rey, this time finding it rather easy to answer his question. She held her head high. Finally, something she could brag about.

“Because the man who is coming here tonight is completely unlike you. The man who is coming here tonight is kind and sensitive, he’s clever, and, not to mention, open-minded-

“But, he’s not here.”

Rey smiled for the first time that evening with satisfaction. Kylo Ren looked once more like his usual self - angry, grumpy and miserable. However, as she thought about the answer he gave, she found her smile once again slipping into nothingness. 

“Well,” she replied begrudgingly, “if he isn’t here, then there must be a reason. Because there isn’t a cruel or careless bone within his body, not that I would expect for you to understand anyone like that, you with your empire of money stealing stores, with witless sales managers who have never even heard of, let alone read, Fitzgerald, Salinger or Conrad. No one will ever remember the First Order or you Kylo Ren, and maybe nobody will remember me either, but plenty of people will remember Leia Organa because they think that she is fine and that her store is something special. You are nothing but a suit.” 

Kylo felt his mouth open slightly. 

This shouldn’t have hurt him. Her opinion shouldn’t have mattered to him. 

He felt his eyes darken. He had brought this upon himself. He had gotten too close. Perhaps more than he had intended. No, not more. A lot more than he had intended. It was his mistake. His miscalculation. He should have never replied to that email. He should never have brought back Ben Solo. He should never have come into this coffee shop. 

He ought to yell, throw the table across the room, shout in her face and tell her with glee that he was Ben Solo, that it was him the whole time, that he had played her on purpose, that he had known the whole time who she was and had enjoyed watching her melt at his words, enjoyed seeing how young and naive she really was behind that cold, stony facade, relishing in finding out all of her insecurities. He would see her cry, see the pain and smile at it. Enjoy it. 

And yet….. 

An ugly feeling rose within him. He didn’t want that. That was the truth. 

He didn’t understand why. Perhaps he hadn’t completely pretended. Surely there was some of that person still in hi-

No. Ben Solo was dead. Gone. What Rey was saying was wrong. Resistance Books was a failure. Surely she could see that. His mother was deluded, along with all the people that worked there. 

But he was here. He was Kylo Ren. That was the reality. He paused. 

“You don’t know me-“

“I don’t wish to,” snapped Rey, her hands crossed over her chest, her lips in a thin line. He could see that she was breathing heavily. 

She was upset. 

Oh, like she hadn’t been this entire time?

“You don’t know, do you,” he started again, keeping his voice controlled, but he could hear that it was croaky due to his emotions. “Why you were given the store? I presume you know about her son?” 

He was treading on dangerous territory here. He couldn’t tell her the truth now, but he wanted to at least get her out of the mess she’d landed herself in. 

“What about him?” 

“Did you never question why he didn’t take over Resistance Books?” he asked, glancing up at her surreptitiously. 

“Why would you care?” she retorted, her expression incredulous. 

“I don’t. It’s just that I know Leia Organa and that store has weaknesses. You are being deceived. You are nothing but a puppet on a string.”

“Funny,” replied Rey, narrowing her eyes. “That’s how the First Order looks to me. All of you, puppets on a string, all controlled by your master puppeteer, Snoke.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” snarled Kylo, leaning across the table. “You’re just a naive, ignorant girl caught up in a business war that is way over your head. You ought to be careful.” 

“I don’t need to take any advice from you,” scoffed Rey, leaning closer as well, her eyes almost daring him to do his worst. 

“True, but I suggest you take it anyway. Leave while you can.”

“And what, join you?” replied Rey, smiling but frowning at the same time. 

Kylo merely stared back at her. 

He didn’t even realise that that was what it had sounded like. However the minute she said it… 

Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad idea. 

He remained silent.

“You’re offering me a job?” whispered Rey, staring at him in disbelief. 

Kylo kept his face dormant, and his eyes on her. He couldn’t look away. Not now. 

What proceeded to happen next would become the talking point of the employees of Takodana Cafe for weeks.

Rey exploded.

Not literally of course. 

Figuratively. 

But what a sight it was. 

She shot up from her chair abruptly with such fire in her eyes that Kylo thought that she was positively glowing, and proceeded to take her now most definitely cold cup of coffee and threw it's contents into his face before bellowing, 

“Go fuck yourself!” 

The cafe suddenly felt completely silent. It was as if no one was there. 

Rey picked up her bag and did not even stop to look at Kylo as she passed him. 

She wouldn’t have seen much anyway, as he was merely sitting there, staring at down at the table as if he were a statue. 

Just as she was about to open the entrance door, she wiped around to send him one last cutting message.

“Oh, and by the way, this time, it wasn’t by accident!” 

And with that, she slammed the door and was gone. 

The entire residents of the cafe turned to stare at Kylo. He only had eyes for one person though. 

He watched in silence as he observed Rey strutting past the cafe, her hand gripping tightly around her book. 

He could just about see tears streaming down her face. 

He raised his eyebrows in silence before fishing out his wallet, left 20 dollars on the table and stood up. He merely shook his head when a waiter offered him a towel to dry himself, and quietly walked out of the cafe. 

When he got home, he knew that he would have to pay for a new living room. 

On the account that he would be destroying it till it was unrecognisable by the end of the evening.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: it's been a long time folks, I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I had a hard time figuring out what to do after that last chapter and realised I couldn't do what they did in You've Got Mail because it didn't fit with Rey and Kylo's characters. So although the basic storyline will be the same, this will be grittier, darker and I hope truer to our beloved SW characters, meaning less and less scenes will be the same as those in YGM. This chapter is pretty OTT so keep that in mind. Anyway, happy reading guys! Don't forget to like, follow and please please review to tell me what you all think! Thanks!

"Would you like another sir?"

"Erm, yes please, thanks."

Kylo stared nonchalantly down at the empty glass on the wooden counter. He didn't know how long the poisonous feeling in the pit of his stomach was going to last but until it went away he was determined to drink till he would forget about it. So far it wasn't going so well.

After his disastrous encounter with the woman whom he now knew to be 'solely' responsible for the turbulent highs and lows he had been experiencing for the past couple of months, he had, instead of returning home like he had intended, ended up in a bar quite close to First Order books. Why he had chosen it he could not remember and nor did he care. All he knew was that he had made a habit of coming to the place every day after work ever since... In fact, he had been coming to the place for over a week now. But he liked it - there were hardly any customers and the elderly bartender never asked questions; nor did he bat an eyelid when Kylo started showing up every day. And night.

"Here you go," murmured the bartender nonchalantly, no trace of judgement in his voice.

Kylo nodded his head and accepted the drink wordlessly, willing the man to quickly leave him alone.

He had received nothing from Bookshop Girl but that was to be expected. He should have sent her an email, made up some sort of excuse to explain why he hadn't been there.

He knew of course exactly why he hadn't sent her anything. He was tired. Tired of lying, and he knew the situation was hopeless. He'd had enough of being two people. It reminded him too much of the past.

As he lifted the glass to his lips he realised that the bartender had not moved away.

Kylo looked up begrudgingly to see the elderly man staring at him. What was strange however was that he did not look annoyed, concerned or even amused. He was smiling but in a warm and humble way. As if he knew exactly what was on Kylo's mind. It was a little disconcerting. Especially after a week of casual indifference.

"Would you care to indulge me just a little. Is the reason for your coming here every day what I think it is?"

Kylo would have turned away and left but there was something about this man's voice that was soothing. Relaxing. Kylo felt his shoulders sag slightly. Besides he was already drunk.

"What exactly is it that you think it is?" murmured Kylo, giving nothing away.

The elderly man smiled a little but was distracted by a customer getting up to leave.

"See you soon Ben," said a slightly overweight middle aged man who was busy wrapping a thick scarf around his neck and heading for the door.

Kylo froze, and turned swiftly to stare at the stranger.

"Good night Mike," replied the bartender who was still smiling nonchalantly.

Kylo felt his heart hammering against his chest and felt the sensation that one tends to feel when one jumps off a cliff.

"Ben?" stammered Kylo, unable to conceal his shock.

"Hmm?" said the bartender, switching his attention back to the strange young man sitting in front of him as the front door closed and the tiny bell above it sounded, as if indicating that they were finally alone.

"Oh," sighed the bartender, finally getting Kylo's meaning. "Yes, that is my name. And judging by the way you reacted just then I'm guessing that it is indeed your name too."

Kylo looked up in surprise. He had come to the conclusion that this man did not take much notice of the various antics that took place around him. Now Kylo was not so sure.

"And to answer your question," continued the bartender, turning to walk towards the door, "I'm guessing that it is a woman. And I speculate that you really care about her."

Kylo looked down at his drink and nervously picked up his glass. Was he really that easy to read? So open and vulnerable to mockery?

The bartender changed the wooden sign hanging off the door from 'open' to 'closed'.

"But you feel that you shouldn't have the capacity to care. Or perhaps you believe that you are not allowed to," murmured the bartender softly as he turned to face Kylo. The young man said nothing, but the elderly man noticed that he was clearly grinding his teeth. His eyes were as black as soot and one would say they were cold, almost soulless. On closer inspection however, Ben had come to the conclusion that this miserable man he had been observing for over a week was a man brimming to the full with so many emotions and yet had no place to put it. He sighed before proceeding to walk back to the counter and picking up a glass off the table. He began to wipe it with a cloth which seemed to have come out of thin air.

Kylo silently observed the man and, despite the foul mood he was in, couldn't help but admire the professionalism and skilfulness of what he was doing. Kylo had noticed that the man was meticulously tidy; his bar was always spotless and nothing was ever out of place. There was also very little left out on the counter and it was so high that you couldn't actually see what he was doing which added to the mystery which surrounding the man. Kylo was wrong. This unassuming person, he suspected, noticed everything that happened in his establishment. In a way, Kylo envied how effortlessly he could create illusions and have not a single person question his methods. He was a silent chameleon who went about unnoticed. Kylo knew however that this was all deliberate. Nothing in this bar was here by mistake and though it may not have not looked like much, every single tiny little thing had a purpose.

Silence fell upon their short conversation, and Kylo proceeded to contemplate whether to get up and leave. This has gotten awkward and he didn't want to talk to anybody about Rey. Or Bookshop Girl. Which was she in his mind anyway?! How the old man had figured out about the girl was beyond him but either way Kylo was determined to not give him anymore information. He needed no drinking partner; what he needed was solitude till he could conquer whatever it was that was bothering him.

The bartender stared at the young man with concern.

"Perhaps you've even hurt her-"

"Enough!" stammered Kylo, slamming his glass on to the counter, his right hand gripping it so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Enough. I don't need to hear what I already know."

The bartender did not flinch at his sudden outburst. He merely paused before continuing to wipe the glass in his hand.

"Sometimes people need to hear what they already know. To have the obvious pointed out to them. I think it's obvious what you should do."

Kylo knew he was staring at him but he arrogantly avoiding it, staring down at his glass.

"Apologise, no matter what the consequences or what she thinks of you afterwards. Be selfless."

"It's not so simple," muttered Kylo. He was still breathing heavily. He hadn't come here for this.

"The hardest paths are often the simplest ones."

Kylo huffed before standing up and grabbing his coat from his chair.

"I won't be coming here anymore," he said coldly before draining his glass. "Bore someone else with your tacky wisdom."

As he turned to leave, he felt a buzz from his phone. As he took it out, he looked tiredly down at the screen.

He stopped walking.

The bartender frowned as he stared at the strange man in the ominous long black coat. Though he never spoke to anyone, he had such an astonishing look of utter misery in his eyes that the bartender hadn't the heart to ask him what his problem was. This wasn't just about any woman. The man was clearly in love but completely unaware of the fact and the situation was clearly complicated to say the least.

Kylo, who now stood frozen on the spot proceeded to turn around and hurry back towards the bartender, a stricken look on his face. The bartender understood immediately.

"She's contacted you, hasn't she," he said calmly, smiling a little wryly.

"Yes," said the dark haired man in a somewhat begrudging manner, his eyes moving manically between the counter and the bartender's face.

"She's angry? Asking for an explanation?" asked the bartender, giving an all-knowing smile.

"Not exactly," muttered Kylo, sitting down again.

The bartender frowned. This was unexpected.

"She-" stammered Kylo, gesturing Ben for another drink, "She's apologising. And thanking me."

Ben paused as he opened the bottle of whisky and looked down at the young man. If he was worried before now he looked positively traumatised. The bartender frowned before proceeding to pour him another drink.

"If that really is the case, then she must be one incredibly exceptional woman."

Kylo huffed bitterly before looking down again at Bookshop Girl's message.

Dear Ben,

I have been thinking of you. Last week I went to meet you and you weren't there. I wish I knew why. I felt so foolish.

And as I sat there waiting, somebody else came, a man who has made my professional life a misery. And an amazing thing happened - I was able to say exactly what I wanted to say the moment I wanted to say it.

It felt terrible, just like you said it would. I was cruel, and I'm never cruel. Though I hardly believe what I said mattered to this man; to him, I am just a bug to be crushed. But what if it did? He may be a horrible person but no matter what he's done to me, there is no excuse for my behaviour. Anyway...I so wanted to talk to you. I'm sure there's a reason why you weren't there that night but even if there isn't...

The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings.

So thank you.

"She's a stupid girl, s- she doesn't understand what she's saying," muttered Kylo as he stared at his phone.

His voice was wavering, full of anger, frustration and... something else. He didn't know what it was but he sure as hell didn't want to know.

"Stupid, stupid girl," he stammered, his grip on his phone so tight that his hand started to hurt.

Ben stared at Kylo for a moment in contemplation before speaking.

"She forgives you. This is good news."

"She's not forgiving me, she's forgiving Be-"

Kylo stopped speaking; observing the bartender's perplexed expression transported him back into reality.

"This is ridiculous," he snapped, roughly picking up his glass off the counter. "You don't understand anything. Neither does she. I played her and I won. That's all there is to it."

"So why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset," snarled Kylo before drinking his whiskey hastily.

"So why have you gone to all this trouble, used up so much time and energy over someone you claim to be insignificant?" said Ben, frowning.

Kylo did not know why but for some reason he felt the urge to explain himself to the old man.

"Business. That's all it is, just business. I wasn't trying to deceive her, I just..."

"Why do you come here every day, spending hours at a time to think about her? Do you not think it possible that you deceived her and continue to want to deceive her because you feel a connection and you don't want to sever it, regardless of whoever it is you pretend to be? I have watched you for over a week and can only come to one conclusion. You have compassion for her-"

"Compassion is a weakness. I cannot have compassion for her, she is the one person I cannot have compassion for!" retorted Kylo, drinking what was left of the golden liquid in his glass.

"This is not a question of right or wrong. I am just telling you what I see. And what I see contradicts everything you appear to keep telling yourself. You care for her-"

"I DON'T CARE FOR HER!" yelled Kylo before getting up and throwing the glass onto the floor, the impact creating an excruciating sound of something breaking apart into a million pieces.

Kylo turned, his eyes reflecting blind rage as he grabbed the bartender by the front of his shirt and pulled back his right hand into a fist.

Ben stared in alarm at Kylo. He froze, glass in hand. He had stopped wiping.

As Kylo glared at the old man, gritting his teeth so hard his head was starting to ache, he suddenly remembered Rey's words.

To him I'm just a bug to be crushed...

Kylo let go of the old man before turning away.

"You understand nothing. She understands nothing," spoke Kylo, his voice turbulent and unsteady, his head down, facing away from the bartender and the light reflecting off the counter, hiding his face in darkness.

Silence fell and for a moment the only sound that could be heard was that of Kylo's heavily breathing as he tried to calm himself.

"If you don't mind me saying so," replied Ben bravely, breaking the silence and carefully keeping his voice low and steady, "I think it is you who understands nothing."

Kylo looked up slowly. Ben could see tears in the young man's eyes. This man was lonely. He was in pain. He...

It was only then that the bartender finally understood.

This boy hated himself. He couldn't accept who he was and therefore could not accept that anyone could ever see him with anything else than simply contempt. Ben wondered what had caused him to become such a mess.

After a moment, he smiled before wordlessly picking up the telephone and ringing for a taxi. Kylo simply stared at the strange man. He was exhausted and couldn't really see straight.

"It's late," said the elderly man as he put down the phone. "And there won't be many taxis free this time night. You know what you have to do. Go home, sit down, think for a moment and simply tell her the truth. Once you accept whatever it is that is causing you so much conflict within yourself, you will know the truth. Even if you can't manage the whole thing, at least understand it, accept it and tell her as much as you can. And whatever you do, don't lie."

Kylo nodded slowly, listening to the man's voice, which came across as almost hypnotic, before turning away and walking somewhat in a daze.

"Women always find out the truth."

Kylo froze and turned to look at the old man in alarm. He only just now realised that he had twinkling blue eyes, which were now smiling at him.

"Always," murmured the old man before turning away to put away the remaining glasses on the counter.

Kylo stared for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly before turning away to leave. Outside he could see that a taxi was already waiting for him.

As he opened the stain-glassed door, he reminisced. He had only heard one other person in his life give that exact same remark. It was from a man whom he would rather like to forget.

Kylo hesitated as he was about to leave. And turned around slightly to say something.

"Thank y-" he began, but he found himself speaking to open air. There was nobody at the counter.

Kylo frowned before closing the door and walking unsteadily towards the taxi. Everything was becoming a bit of a blur. As he slumped into the taxi and gave his address, he felt the last of his energy go. As he laid back, he felt his eyes closing and thought about the bartender, whiskey, some man named Mike but mostly about a brown-haired girl dancing in a black dress, smiling at him and calling him towards her.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Dear friend,

I cannot tell you what happened. But I beg you from the bottom of my heart to forgive me for what happened.

I fell terrible that you found yourself in a situation that caused you additional pain. But I'm absolutely sure that whatever you said was provoked, even deserved. Everyone says things that they regret when they're worried or stressed. You were expecting to see someone you trusted and met the enemy instead. The fault is mine. Someday I will explain everything. Until then, I'm still here. Talk to me.

 

Finn lifted his head and stared at the woman sitting on the opposite side of the table.

"That's it?!" he exclaimed, gripping Rey's phone tightly.

Rey, in contrast, merely nodded her head nonchalantly before sipping her coffee. Nearly two weeks had passed since the whole ordeal and she quite frankly just wanted to sweep it aside and move on.

"And he hasn't mentioned meeting again?" muttered Finn as he stared down at the email once more. Rey realised that since Leia used gmail she could access her account even from her own phone. Ben had replied to her two nights before while she was about to dip into a relaxing hot lavender bath. She found herself sitting on the bathroom floor over an hour later, by which time her perfect lavender bath was completely ruined. Not that it would have done anything to help her relax. Nothing would have. Not after reading that email.

"No, no" sighed Rey as she put her coffee cup silently on the table. She was surprisingly calm.

Finn stared at her nebulously. His eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't look very angry," he stated.

"Should I be?" asked Rey innocently, as if her current emotional status had not once crossed her mind.

"I mean, I understand that he accepts that he made a mistake and explains but doesn't it sound a bit weird-"

"Look, I trust him. I don't know but I think he's telling the truth. There must a very good reason why he couldn't come but he can't tell me because at the end of the day, we are two complete strangers who don't know each other's names. That is the reality."

Rey spoke with such firmness that it was as if she was bringing the conversation to a close. There was a certain finality about it which rendered Finn silent. He would not pursue his current train of thought. At least, not for now.

Observing Finn's troubled expression, Rey proceeded to smile warmly.

"Look, we'll just be like George Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patrick Campbell, we'll write letters are entire lives."

Finn smiled reluctantly in response.

"You deserve more than that Rey," he responded quietly, which Rey couldn't help but feel moved by. After a moment, she begrudgingly spoke once more.

"What we really need to concentrate on now is what to do about the store."

Finn's frown instantly returned.

"Be honest Rey, do you think we have a chance?"

Rey stared at Finn for a moment but she did not reply; she merely smiled sadly at him, and that was all the confirmation that Finn needed to know that he would have to find a new job.

 

...................

 

"This is amazing. Is that really Ackbar?" asked Poe as he pointed at a black and white photo of a young Leia and famed political activist Ackbar shaking hands.

"Uh huh," said Leia as she proceeded to smile, setting down a tray on her coffee table. "He was quite the looker back then. Mind you…. he still is."

"Yeah, I wouldn't say," replied Poe with a smirk on his face as he took one last look at the photo before diverting his attention back towards the round table, where Rey and Finn were sitting, helping Leia pour the tea.

"Tea?" questioned Poe.

"Well, we might as well try to be refined, besides this is a good blend and it doesn't taste like the usual ground dirt."

Rey and Finn both laughed in response as Poe sat down.

"You were quite the activist back then, weren't you Leia?"

Usually if an employee referred to their employer by their first name, they would have been scolded for it, but Poe had such charm that he got away with things like that. Finn rolled his eyes in response but Leia merely smiled back at Poe with the exact same sly expression he was wearing.

"What makes you think I'm not still one?"

Poe chuckled in response.

"So," sighed Leia as she sat down. "Rey, what are you going to do?"

Rey's smile disappeared as she tried to meet Leia's eyes with difficulty. This was the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life. But it wasn't a decision, it was an inevitability.

"Close, we're going to close," she said with resignation.

"Close," mumbled Finn, looking forlorn.

"Closing the store is the brave thing to do. I would have done so already, only I was too short-sighted and stubborn to see where the store was heading. You're doing the right thing Rey. I'm the one who put you in such an uncomfortable position in the first place."

"Leia…" replied Rey, unable to find anything to say. She didn't agree with her; she felt like a failure, but nevertheless, she was grateful for Leia' kind words.

Observing Rey's look of disappointment, Leia spoke once more.

"Rey, your life is just beginning. Don't think of this as a failure, think of it as a stepping stone. You're free to make your own choices now. You have savings from the years working for me, and you will soon finish university. You must look ahead, not backward. You must dare to imagine what kind of life you could have."

Poe, Finn and Rey stared at Leia with wonder in their eyes. She had such command over the room because her voice had such determination that it was impossible to listen and feel somewhere revitalized. It was not so hard to imagine now why Ackbar had admired her so much.

"Well, don't just sit there gaping, come on, eat the sandwiches."

As if being awoken from a strange spell, the trio looking down at the coffee table and proceeded to do as they were told.

"And Rey, if you need financial support for the remainder of your time at university, you just ask me."

"Oh no, I couldn't ask that of you-" began Rey but Leia cut her off.

"Nonsense! Don't you worry, I'm very rich."

The collective sound of munching abruptly stopped.

"What?" mumbled Finn, his mouth full of ham sandwich.

Leia grinned in response like a cheeky schoolgirl.

"I was quite influential back then, which proved quite useful for Ackbar, given who my mother was."

"Your father was Bail Organa," intercepted Poe, "he was Major at one point wasn't he?"

"What, I didn't know that!" exclaimed Finn, picking up another sandwich.

"But he wasn't particularly rich," murmured Poe as Leia continued to smile, "Some say that he wasn't really your father… I noticed that there was an old photo sitting over there, which was of a very beautiful woman standing in front of the White House. I was going to ask you who it was."

"I see," replied Leia nebulously as she poured another cup of tea for everybody.

"Why have I never heard about this before?" said Finn, looking stupefied.

Poe frowned as if he was trying to remember something.

"There was an old rumor going round years ago that you were adopted, and it was sort of proved but there's still speculation over it."

Everyone stared Leia as they waited for her to respond, but she took her time pouring the tea.

After she was done, she turned to Poe with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Now I suppose you all want me to tell you who my parents were."

"So it is true?" replied Rey incredulously.

"Who were they Leia?" asked Poe flatly, a knowing smile on his face.

Leia merely shook her head and picked up a sandwich.

The trio sagged in their armchairs in disappointment.

Perhaps out of pity, Leia offered them this one small piece of information.

"It wasn't meant to be," she began warmly, which prompted them to sit up again.

"Why not?" asked Rey as she picked up her teacup.

"She was a monarch," replied Leia simply.

A moment of silence passed.

"A monarch?" stammered Rey.

"Yes, it was her job, but my father wasn't. She died and he decided to run his own empire instead. Then he also died."

The trio stared at her blankly in response.

"Just as well," finished Leia lightly with a shrug before turning to face them all. "Tea?"

….....

"Her father was Darth Vader," said Poe hoarsely as they stepped outside, leaving Leia's apartment.

"Don't be silly," muttered Rey in response. "We don't know that for sure."

"Well, who else could it have been. He's the only known dictator to have rumoured to have been involved with Queen Amidala. Many people have proved that Darth Vader did have a secret love child at some point before he changed his name! I can't believe this!"

Rey grimaced in response as they started to walk down the pavement.

"I mean it's not like he was something normal like a socialist or anarchist. And with her? I mean she was a monarch for crying out loud, most people didn't know at the time, I mean we're talking about the 70's here-"

"Poe, they were in Monaco, people do crazy things in foreign countries," replied Rey, her voice flat.

"Yes, for example, people buy leather jackets for much more than they're worth, but they don't fall in love with fascist dictators!"

Rey stopped walking and turned sharply towards Poe.

"Leia is a very special person to me," said Rey. "Her history is her own business."

Poe stared at Rey for a moment before letting his shoulders sag.

"No, you're right. We shouldn't judge Leia for her past. Besides, this is a big week for you, closing the store. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

Finn stared at Poe with a strange expression on his face. Rey looked surprised.

"Apology accepted," she muttered before smiling at her friend.

"What are you going to do about Ben?" asked Poe as they started to walk again.

"Nothing. I think we're just remain pen pals. That's how it should be. I don't think we will meet again."

"And is there someone else?" asked Finn gently.

"No," replied Rey, frowning as she hadn't really thought about it. "No, but there is the dream of someone else."

Both Poe and Finn turned to look at each other. Unnoticed by Rey, they both wore the same forlorn look of sadness.

"Hey, guys, I have to nip to the supermarket, so you can head to the subway without me," said Rey as she broke way and turned to walk across the street. "Thanks for everything today!"

She waved a quick goodbye before turning hastily away to walk swiftly in the opposite direction. Both Poe and Finn noticed that she had avoided looking at them directly.

"I'm worried about her," mumbled Finn, staring at Rey as she walked away.

"So am I," replied Poe. "But we can't fix it. This is something she has to do on her own."

"You're talking about Ben right?"

"Of course, who else," said Poe nonchalantly, a smile on his face as his eyes lingered on Finn's concerned face.

After a moment, tension started to rise between them. Finn took a deep breath as he tried to think of something else to say. Luckily he didn't have to.

"Hey, are you free right now? Cos I was thinking we could grab a coffee or something," said Poe as they began to walk again.

Finn quickly swerved his head to stare at Poe incredulously, his mouth wide open.

"Sure, why now," he replied shakily, before looking away, trying to recover whatever dignity was left of inside of him.

"Great," replied Poe quietly without looking at Finn, knowing full well that Finn had been staring at him.


	13. 12

Chapter 12

If Rey’s heart was breaking inside, she sure didn’t show it. 

It was the final week for Resistance Books. It was closing, and hence the store had practically everything on sale. There was a large sign posted on the display window outside which read, FINAL SALE - EVERYTHING MUST GO. 

It was depressing, but nobody dared to describe their situation as such. They had a job to do, and Rey, along with all the others, was determined to see it through. 

“Why don’t we bomb First Order books?” said one rather blunt customer as Rey was putting her purchases into a cotton bag. The store was packed with people, eager to get everything under 10 dollars. 

Rey merely smiled weakly in response. There wasn’t much else she could do. They were closing. What was done was done. 

It was over. 

“Hey,” murmured Finn, who was helping beside her. “You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, absolutely fine,” whispered Rey in response. 

Finn stared at her, utterly unconvinced. 

“Listen, I know that things are tough right now, but if you’re free tonight, why don’t we all go out for a dinner or something? It might be nice to take a break, and this week especially-“

“Finn, I really appreciate the offer, but I think I just want to go home tonight and take a nice, warm bath. I’d prefer to be on my own tonight, I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no, of course not,” replied her co-worker, nodding his head, “we all have to deal with this in our own ways. But we should do something. We should celebrate the past couple of years, working together. Just promise me that you won’t close up like a clam and shut us out. None of this is your fault, try to remember that.”

Rey blinked, trying to hold back her tears. Indifference she could deal with. But kindness, warmth… She could feel herself start to crack as the next customer approached the counter. 

“Leia Organa?” questioned the old lady, recognizing Leia who had come behind the cashier. 

“Yes,” replied Leia warmly, approaching the customer. 

The old lady smiled sadly in response before boldly taking hold of Leia’s hand across the counter. 

“I just wanted to say how sad I am that this store is closing. I remember back when it used to be called Republic Books and your mother read to me Anne of Green Gables. She was so kind, so warm….”

It was at this point that the old lady started to cry, and Leia gestured Rey to pass the box of tissues which was sitting on the opposite side of the counter. 

Poe, who had been sorting through the sale items, came to the register and took over so that Leia could lead the old lady away from the cue to a secluded corner of the store and have a chat with her. 

Finn stared soberly at the scene in front of him as Rey proceeded to serve the next customer, desperately trying to calm down her quickening heart. 

…………………………..

As the day progressed, the customers started to dwindle, till finally there was only an elderly couple who shook hands with Leia as they left. No doubt they were old acquaintances of hers who had a long affiliation with Resistance Books. Finn and Poe helped close the store and then went off into the night to catch a film. 

“Rey, you go on home now, I can manage the rest.”

As Rey climbed down the ladder leaning on the bookcase, she looked at Leia with concern. 

“Are you sure?” she asked, her feet reaching the tiled floor. 

“I’m sure,” replied Leia with certainty as she closed the till. 

There was something about the tone of her voice which suggested to Rey that Leia wanted to spend some quiet time with her store. Alone. It was, after all, Leia’s store. 

“Okay,” said Rey gently, before reaching for her coat. “Thanks for helping out today. It was really busy.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world my dear,” replied Leia warmly. 

There was a moment’s silence, during which Leia seemed as if she wanted to say something, but the opportunity came and went, and Rey proceeded towards the door, unaware of her mentor’s inner conflict. 

“Well, see you tomorrow,” said Rey.

“Get a good night’s sleep, and take care traveling home dear.” 

………………………………………

As Rey crossed the street, she noticed that First Order Books was still open. Not only that, it was still teeming with people. 

Rey sighed in response as she found herself in front of the store, walking past the brightly lit display windows which illuminated her face. As she approached the entrance, she turned to look inside, past the glass doors. Looking up, she saw a brightly light sign in bold font. It seemed to be calling her, taunting her almost, daring her to come inside. 

Rey furrowed her eyebrows as she twisted her scarf tightly around her neck. Maybe it was worth a little look; to see what had defeated her. It was a little self-destructive perhaps, but knowing one’s enemy was always important. It was important to confront the reality of the situation. To see why she had lost. 

She took a deep breath before approaching the doors and opening them, entering enemy territory. 

As she stepped inside she was confronted by an enormous café counter which was situated right in the middle of the store, brimming with the smells of espresso and coffee.

It was nauseating. 

And everything she had expected. 

Rey shook her head in response as she looked around and saw the spectacle of consumerism and corporate indifference which surrounded her. Paperbacks lay strewn messily on tables with sale stickers slapped mercilessly on their covers and everywhere there seemed to be banners exclaiming that everything was on sale. 

Despite all this, Rey moved begrudgingly forward, further into the hell-hole, curious to see if it got any worse. Everything she had suspected it would be was turning out to be true.

In a way, it felt oddly satisfying. Yes, she may have lost, but at least she had gone down with dignity. There was a sense of nobility to her failure, which she could at least be partially proud of. Everything she had accused him of being was true, she could see it now with her very own eyes that-

Rey froze in front of the glass steps which lead to the floors above. Wasn’t the reason she had come inside to understand First Order Books? To understand their strategy, to understand why Resistance Books had ultimately failed? 

It couldn’t possibly be because…. Because she wanted to understand… To know if he was indeed everything he claimed he stood for. 

Rey glanced up at the floor guide by the stairs. Children’s books…. It was only two floors up from the ground floor. Well, now, there she could truly see and compare. There she could truly see just how different they were. 

How different First Order books and Resistance books were, that is. 

As Rey climbed up the stairs, she started to wonder what she was going to do now. Find another job? But what kind? And what about Finn and Poe? 

With a grunt, she climbed the steps two steps at a time, finally arriving at the children’s floor. 

As Rey looked up, her eyes widened, completely taken aback by what lay before her.

The place was, simply put, massive. It had to be at least three times as big as the whole of Resistance Books, and that’s including Leia’s office. There seemed to be miles of floor space, where children were either playing or reading. There was even a stationary and toy area, which made Rey feel immediately sorry for the parents. It was pure cash grab, utterly shameless. 

Rey shook her head in disapproval before moving towards the endless rows of bookcases which seemed to cater to everyone from toddlers to young adults. What was slightly surprising was that some of the bookshelves were low so that children could easily reach them. Rey thought briefly about Resistance Books and how Poe and Finn were always climbing up ladders to pull out books that customers needed….. 

She turned away, feeling slightly uncomfortable. 

Still, those atrocious red-lettered sale signs still adorned the walls as much as they did on the ground floor, and the bookcases were decorated with plush mascot toys of First Order Books.

Rey rolled her eyes as she sat down by one of the many tables that had been laid out for children to sit and read.

What kind of bookstore has a mascot, she thought to herself as she turned to her side and looked at the various titles in the bookshelf she was sitting in front of. She noticed Anne of Green Gables, the exact same copy which Leia had passed to the old lady at the store that very same day. 

Taking it out, she hesitantly turned it over and peered at the price. It was nearly four dollars cheaper than that at Resistance Books. Rey felt her heart sink a little. As she opened the book and started to leaf through it, she noticed that it was surprisingly much quieter than the busy, grand central station-like ground floor she had just come up from. Strange. 

“Can I borrow this seat?” 

Rey looked up in surprise to see a little brown-haired girl looking at her. 

“Oh, sure,” stammered Rey, blanking for moment, “please take it, it’s all yours.”

“Thank you,” replied the girl with a smile before taking it over to another table by a windowsill and sitting down to read, in peace. Rey noticed that the title was ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. 

Smiling in response, Rey felt moved to see such an inspiring moment. But then she felt her smile fall as she looked around at the various children who were all sitting on the floor, either reading, playing, or even reciting books amongst themselves. 

Rey felt herself let out a resigned sigh. 

How could she compete with this? 

Were they so different, in the end… Were they, in fact, striving for the same thing, but just going about it in different ways? Rey was scared to follow her line of thought. Scared to contemplate…. 

“Do you have the shoe books?”

The bodiless voice was coming from the opposite side of the bookshelf, under which Rey sat. 

“The… shoe books?” responded a youngish male voice. 

Rey sat up and, against her better judgement, started to listen to their conversation. 

“Yes, my friend said that my daughter needs to read the ‘Shoe’ books, that’s all I know,” said a rather impatient-sounding woman. 

Rey started to smile smugly. She knew exactly which series she was referring to, and she also knew that if this had been Resistance Books, either Poe or Finn would have easily found the books for her within seconds. 

“I’m sorry, without the author’s name or the book title I can’t really help you,” replied the young First Order employer automatically, in a distant, closed off manner. 

Rey rolled her eyes. Ridiculous. 

“What’s the point in asking for your help if you can’t even help me find a book? Isn’t that your job?” exclaimed the woman, becoming frustrated. 

Rey started to feel sorry for the woman, and started to get up. She could help her, and in doing so humiliate the book clerk who clearly had never read a book in his life. At least she had been right about her accusations concerning this particular aspect of the place. 

“Noel Streatfeild.”

Rey froze, half standing, half sitting, her heart suddenly hammering painfully hard against her chest. 

She knew that voice. 

“I’m sorry?” replied the woman, clearly stunned. 

“Noel. Streatfeild,” repeated the deep, intimidating voice slowly, as Rey slowly sank back into her seat as quietly as she could. “He wrote Ballet Shoes, Skating Shoes, Theatre Shoes and Dancing Shoes. I would start with Ballet Shoes first, it’s the most accessible.”

“Right,” stammered the customer, unable to think of anything else to say. 

“Streatfeild,” repeated the First Order employer, his voice shaking slightly. “How do you spell that?” 

Weirdly enough, Rey was starting to feel bad for the poor guy. He sounded completely terrified, not that this was surprising in the slightest. 

There was an awkward pause during which Rey swore she could hear a pin drop before the now not-so-mysterious voice started to spell out the author’s name through gritted teeth, during which Rey had to try very hard not to burst out laughing. This was beyond precious; it was a clear victory, in her own small way. 

“Thank you,” replied the woman, sounding slightly confused. “I will go search for them now, the author’s name was all I needed.”

She proceeded to scurry off hastily, which Rey could tell was happening because of the sound of the woman’s boots scrapping against the carpeted floor. 

“How could you not spell that author’s name?” thundered Kylo Ren, turning sharply towards the First Order employer who was attempting to escape by walking swiftly away. 

Rey froze in her chair, sinking even lower. She prayed that he would not notice her.

“I- I didn’t know the author sir, so I- I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t,” snarled Kylo, approaching the young man and towering over him. “I shall see to that.” 

The poor boy could only gulp in response, gripping hold of the book in his hand for dear life. 

“Excuse me!” 

The woman from before came rushing back, this time running past the bookshelf under which Rey sat. She had long blonde hair and looked around her mid-forties. 

“I have just spoken to another one of your employers, and he has just informed me that you do not have these books in stock.”

“We’re terribly sorry about that,” said the young book clerk hastily but the dissatisfied mother interrupted him mid apology. 

“I don’t need an apology. What I need to know is whether it is possible to order these books from your online store-“

“Go to Resistance Books.”

Rey, who had been waiting with bated breath for their tedious conversation to stop, suddenly felt like she had dropped off a cliff. She couldn’t believe her ears.

What?! 

Perhaps she had misheard. Yes, she must have misheard, she had to have-

“Excuse me?” replied the woman, clearly as nonplussed as Rey was. 

“Resistance Books,” repeated the unmistakable voice of Kylo Ren. Except she could not hear a single hint of malice in his voice. “It’s closing this week, but they should have what you need. It’s just on the corner of this street.”

“Right, I see,” replied the customer, her voice a little unsure. “I thought this store was on the corner.”

“Yes, well, not originally. Technically they are on the corner.”

What followed was an awkward silence, during which Rey found herself sitting in stunned silence. She didn’t know what to think, less try and discern why he was saying what he was saying. Or rather, why he was sounding the way he was sounding. As if he was almost…. 

Sad?

“Well, thank you anyway,” said the woman, trying to move the conversation along. The First Order employer did not even bother trying to say anything. “I shall go there tomorrow morning. It’s rather unusual for someone to recommend a store other than their own… It’s rather refreshing. And pleasing. Are you the manager of this store?”

“I’m the CEO of this company,” replied Kylo without hesitation, in a rather nebulous manner.

“Oh,” squeaked the lady in response. “Oh, well….”

She sounded rather tongue-tied, which Rey could not really blame her for. Who wouldn’t be, in her situation.   
In fact, now that Rey thought about it, she herself had been, the first time she had found out who the tall, dark, discerning man was. 

Rey furrowed her eyebrows as the woman spoke once more.

“It’s a shame that it’s closing. Such a wonderful part of this neighbourhood…. Oh, perhaps I shouldn’t be-“

“It is,” said Kylo, his voice soft and rather quiet. “A shame.” 

Rey gripped hold of the Anne of Green Gables book in her lap. There was something about his voice which she suddenly found disturbingly disarming. She’d never heard him sound like that before. It was completely unlike the times he had spoken to her with such steel in his voice. It was beyond her imagination. 

And it seemed to enter her almost, penetrate her outer being.

As she looked down at the book lying in her lap, she noticed that there were droplets of water on the cover. It was only a moment later that she realized that she was crying, and that those teardrops were hers. 

The lady who had been enquiring about the books in the first place turning to stare at the strange man standing before her. She was not exactly sure, but he was not what she imagined a CEO to look like. Although he stared at her with disinterest, she sensed something else going on behind his eyes. 

“Well,” she replied warmly for the first time. “Thank you.”

With that, she walked away, to leave the First Order employer to the mercy of his employee. That was putting it mildly. 

“Sir-“ he started, obviously attempted to apologize. 

“Don’t work at a bookstore if you can’t even spell.”

The book clerk looked away in embarrassment. 

“It’s like I’m proving her right,” muttered Kylo Ren quietly to himself. 

“What?” exclaimed the young boy, clearly confused. 

“Get out of my sight,” growled Kylo. “Your contract is terminated.” 

Unable to form a response, the employer scampered away and Kylo marched off in the opposite direction, his heavy footsteps indicating to Rey that thankfully he was moving away from her and not towards her direction. 

She let out a sigh of relief and let her head sink for a moment before lifting it up again. Better to sit here for a while before moving. 

She felt sorry for the book clerk. She was rather surprised to hear that Kylo Ren still remembered what she had said to him about his employers. And here she had unwittingly proven him right. A few moments ago she had been greatly satisfied by this, but now… 

Now she felt a sense of guilt seeping through her, because she knew that because of her, this poor boy had lost his job. 

Rey began to feel, perhaps for the first time ever, the true ramifications of her actions; how they can end up affecting somebody to whom one has absolutely no connection whatsoever. 

She wanted to get out as quickly as possible. But she couldn’t move away just yet, not if Kylo Ren was still stalking about the floor. The last thing she wanted to do was bump into him. She wouldn’t know how to act. 

She was so confused. She didn’t know what to think about what had just transpired, except to say that his soft-spoken voice had caused her to feel weirdly constricted around her chest, as if she quite suddenly forgotten how to breath.


End file.
